Sayberry
by Sayberry
Summary: Rae was a normal teenager. Normal that is for a child born on the Summer Solstice, taken quickly from the body of her mother in the middle of a field and whose father died protecting her from unknown assailants some would call assassins. Normal, until . . .
1. Chapter 1

The rain was still falling.

A long slow drizzle had hung in the air for the last four days, saturating everything. At about an hour before sundown each night it turned into a heavy downpour, but by sunrise it would lighten again. It was as if nature itself was crying at some great loss, or a happiness so great it could find no other way to express it except than through tears. The very presence of so much rain caused even the hardest packed roadways, traveled for hundreds of years, to soften and sometimes flow away. The clouds, too heavy to take flight into the usually blue vaulted skies, built themselves into great fortresses upon the plateau. Their wispy tendrils anchored them in place clinging like cobwebs to every living thing until there was nothing dry outside the simple wooden huts in the middle of the compound, the huts that made up her home for the next few weeks.

She had been at the obligatory briefing just after breakfast in the big common building when the Professor called her out in front of everyone on the site to introduce her. '_Well_,' she pondered, _'I was the only new arrival last night, so I guess it is best over with soonest.'_

"RAE! HURRY!" Corbit was yelling again, she would have to talk to him about that.

"Coming!" She finished putting on a fresh layer of oilskin clothing and clomped in her oversized boots through the door of the girls dorm just in time to run into Mystie. As Mystie began to fall backwards from the impact, her arms flailing wildly, Rae grabbed her wrist and yanked her back onto the top step. But in doing so, she was the one who fell into the mud at the base of the steps.

"Can't you stay dry for five minutes? Come on, we don't have the time for you to change again. The rest of your crew is already in the trenches."

Rae got up and followed Corbit while trying to wring out her sleeves, hair and … and … oh forget it. "There are some who pay dearly to actually bathe in this stuff you know. Maybe we can make some money by sending them some of ours?" Corbit ignored her suggestion, again.

The mud sometimes flowed as easily as the rain water down the slopes, slowing the excavation of Prospector Ironbands' newest find. The saturation of the ground made the digging too easy. Just yesterday a wall on one of the dig site pits had collapsed. Had it not been for Raes' warning of the bulge, they would have lost more than tools and the pair of boots sucked off the feet of the last one out of the pit.

Today, Bron Ironband himself was in the trenches sifting through the viscous mud flow when a cry went up from the very trench on the other side of the site they had lost the day before. Far faster than anyone would have thought possible for a man of his age and size, Bron was up and out of the trench and running towards the commotion.

A very little way away, the red haired teen who had been slowly working her way through a patch of deeper mud towards Professor Ironband, turned into a new direction to finally catch up with him. The amazing thing about her was that she smiled and laughed at everyone, even at herself when she tripped adding another layer to her personal covering of mud. She was so happy to just be doing something she considered important that even the constant rain could not dampen her spirit. She had fallen a few times since leaving the girls dorm hut because of the oversized boots she had had to wear since yesterday.

Her boots failed to notice she had turned, and Rae failed to slow down when she did, so once again she fell into the flowing mud. This time her hand wrapped around an oval stone that she automatically grabbed as she was pulled free of the mud by the senior year student on his way to see the new find.

From a distance she saw that everyone at the site was clustering around and staring at a mud encrusted rock. But to Bron, who took the thick square-ish lump with reverence, it was the first fruit of what he had hoped to find. He began to wipe the mud from what he considered the top of the rock and then looked up and smiled as he turned it over and found a pair of bronze buckles. The good natured laughing subsided and he paused, knife in hand.

"Many years ago, during the age of the great wars when the Alliance fought against the invading Horde, this had been the site of a Guild-Home." His voice shook with the excitement he felt as he spoke from his heart. "An age has passed … , some scholars say two ages, and the battles and legends of those warriors have now fallen into disrepute. Argued now among scholars and scorned by the every-day man, those tales have even been transcribed into steamy romance novels and animated movies for children to teach honor and respect to a generation whose parents are too busy living their own lives to teach their children even the simplest of social graces."

While his chief assistant held an umbrella over him, Bron spoke his mind as he worked the belt knife under the buckles until the tongues of the calcified metal broke free and the straps secured under them fell away. He was surprised at how strong the straps still were, even after all the years that this item must have been resting in its now muddy tomb. Dropping the knife, he opened the tome to the first page. His smile drained from his face until his eyes finally believed what they saw. Maybe that is why he failed to notice the way the bindings faintly pulsed an aquamarine blue as he opened the tome. He held up the find for all to see.

In another realm, maybe another reality, the depthless eyes of a pale, beautiful woman opened suddenly. Her white hair framed her face and cascaded down from the divan she lay upon like the headwaters of a silver waterfall. Without moving, she began to search out the reason for the musical note that had sounded. A note she knew she had heard before but … so long ago …

The red headed girl, distracted from all the very important words Bron was speaking, looked down into her hand to see that the rock she had found was an oval locket. When she wiped away the mud she saw the most intricate designs covering the sides and other surfaces. As if on cue, the falling rain strengthened to wash most of the mud away from her hand, revealing the workmanship of a Master Silversmith. Her mouth actually fell open as she saw her name, her full name, etched into it. She turned the broach over to look at the other side and saw the coat of arms of the Family Gordon … her family. "By the Light …" she cried out.

Bron was turning slowly, showing off the Livery of the Guild that was the first page of this tome. He stopped when he heard the exclamation of the teenager cut through the revered silence.

The young woman, totally oblivious that everyone was now looking at her, righted the locket again. Without any conscious thought, she pressed the tiny button on the side of the frame that released the cover.

Bron closed his eyes as he again prayed for patience before speaking. He reminded himself that the Gordon Family was very old. They may even have had family tracing all the way back to the period of this tome. And it was their money that was supporting this dig. Otherwise the young lass would not be allowed into the trenches yet.

And the locket opened.

The Woman in that other realm heard the chime again. This time her eyes darted to the very place it came from and she quickly rose to a sitting position. She gestured and a globe lifted from a silver stand and drifted quickly the several feet between it and the Lady who gazed upon the scene unfolding in its wintry crystalline depths.

As Bron began to speak, he opened his eyes. What he saw, the White Lady now saw also. "Miss Rae, How many times must I ask you to not say tha …" Bron stopped speaking as his eyes widened at what he saw.

From the open locket came a warm light that caressed Rae's face and seemed to collect about her head like an angelic aura. For a moment only did the effect last, not more than a few seconds at most, but all the students there saw. When she looked up, when she looked at Bron, her eyes had a depth to them he had never seen before.

The Woman, gazing intently at the scene through the girls eyes, gasped as she suddenly remembered what she could not just a moment before. Hope flared in her heart as everything about her seemed to come alive for a moment in time and the events in her memory stitched themselves as a bridge to this present moment. She whispered to herself, "There is much to be done all of a sudden."

Raes' voice, no longer that of a teen, sang out soft and clear with a timber of wisdom and maturity usually associated with a much older woman. Two words only did she speak before her eyes rolled up and her knees gave way. Two words only did she say before those closest to her realized she was falling. Those two words and the intensity of her gaze were lost on all but Bron, who would never forget.

Sayberry and the Woman in White spoke together as one, causing the rain to shimmer and dance in the vibrato of their shared words…

"I remember."


	2. Chapter 2

The rain was still falling.

Sharra had been called to what an experienced midwife knew was going to be a difficult birth at a farm a half days walk from home. The birth had been troublesome, she had to admit, but after two days of labor, and with the rain beating its soothing rhythm on the roof, the beautiful little boy and her thoroughly exhausted mother were both sleeping soundly.

Then it seemed to Sharra something lay hold of her heart and each minute she was away from her own home was a minute too long. When asked why she had to leave so soon after the birth, she could not tell the concerned midwife. She had tried for two hours to convince herself it was safer to stay the night, to wait until the storm was over and the morning sun would be warm at her back all the way home, but she could no longer resist the gees upon her.

Finally, in the darkest hours just before dawn, she got her first sight of the lake. Lightning lit the waters all the way to the bottom causing the denizens living there to churn and writhe until they were attacking each other. Home was only a few minutes away as the storm strengthened for one last throw before it would fade away into time.

She had just topped the last rise before the road dipped down into the hollow that was filled by Lake Everstill when a lightning bolt struck the ground less than twenty feet directly in front of her. Sharra stiffened as every nerve in her body tingled. Then the force of the strike threw her backwards against a tree. She screamed as she hit just as the thunderclap boomed.

Not far away an Elf was witnessing the full fury of the storm from his front porch. He turned his head just when he saw the lightning gather itself into a super bolt to strike. He had always had a knack for seeing the energies of such storms gather. As the bolt struck, he felt his heart contract. Was it the strength of the bolt? Or did he hear a scream between the strike and the thunder? He got up and began to run towards the strike. He knew he would never rest without checking. Sharra was away and he was always anxious for his wife's' safety when she was on the road.

Sharra sat limply where she had fallen for what seemed several minutes. The tree holding her up was now her only anchor to life. She looked about, and even waved her hand in front of her face until she finally admitted to herself that her eyes really were open but she could see nothing. The ringing in her ears told her that straining to hear would do her no good right now either. She was scared.

She had never slacked in her devotions, even in this far away land, but now she began to pray in earnest. She knew that without her sight she may as well be miles away from home and not on the last leg before her warm hearth and dry bed.

The right side of her head felt wrong, all tight and prickly. One touch was all she could stand, the pain excruciating. A moment of concentration and her hand began to radiate a blue aura. She began again, the aura absorbing much of the pain, until she could touch the side of her face. She found that most of her ear was badly torn. She could do nothing about that, the regrowth of cartilage was beyond her abilities. She turned her good ear towards the rough tree bark.

At her shoulder she sensed the torn muscles. This time the aura pulsed until it had changed to a reddish color that warmed the muscles until they relaxed. Then it shifted back to blue and the torn muscles knit back together. She held her hand barely touching her skin all the way down her arm but could sense no other injuries there. She then checked her ribs before switching hands and doing the same for her left side.

She opened her eyes again when she had finished and found that she could begin to see shapes on the periphery of her vision which helped her greatly, knowing her sight would return. Seeing even this little helped her to realize that the white noise she was able to hear was punctuated by the staccato of the falling rain. These symptoms of her returning sight and hearing were welcomed with a quick prayer of thanks and she began to relax. She placed her hands across her stomach when a familiar sensation tickled the palms of both hands. "Oh my!"

"SHARA!"

"Loo," she said with relief, "I knew you would come."

"I thought I heard your scream. Are you … you're hurt." He knelt next to Sharra and examined her as she told of what injuries she had found.

"And one last thing my love," she said as she placed his hands over her stomach. "Our prayers have been answered."

Loo hugged Sharra before he picked her up and started to carry her back to their home but stopped suddenly. "Shara? Were you traveling with someone?"

Just to the side of the main road the almost naked body of a young woman lay in the middle of a charred area.


	3. Chapter 3

Even from her hiding place the violet skinned Night Elf Huntress could hear the moment the farmer lost the battle. The farmer grabbed the arm of the half-dead monster that had killed him and spit in its face. The pink foam that was his last breath covered the face of the monster. Then his arms fell limply to his sides and his eyes glossed over, he saw no more.

The undead's hunt was not for food. Its hunger was of a different sort. Its hunger was more primal and less easily understood. The undead hunted because it needed to kill. It hunted to feel the struggles of its victims as it rent their flesh, cracked their bones, and spilled their blood. It hunted to experience that exquisite moment of fulfillment when its efforts claimed another human life – that last shudder of consciousness, that final exhalation of breath, that concluding gasp as death arrived. The undead's need for killing humans was indigenous to its makeup. It had been human itself once, long ago, and to continue to be what it was, it was necessary for it to keep killing its human self over and over again. It accomplished this through the killing of others. Its own humanity was drowned completely in the madness that drove it, killing kept the pretense from ever threatening to become even a momentary reality.

"Congratulations Sookie," a voice spoke from the rooftop the crude words in the common tongue of the horde, "but ye missed one, mon."

Either from terror or from her training as a Huntress, Sarafeena fainted. She had been praying to Elune harder than she had ever prayed before. _Save me from them, keep me hidden or deliver me from death at their hands, anything, and I will be the first in line if you ever call._

Three members of the Bloody Head guild presently stood over her prone body. Sookie drew his dagger and kneeled in preparation of cutting the Night Elfs' throat.

"You may not kill her Sookie." A Tauren Shaman came into the circle around the Elf. "Her aura is mine to harvest … her time is mine to choose."

Sookie sneered at the Shaman, "This is my battle to finish, Dark-Weeend." He insulted the Shaman by slurring his name.

"She did not fight you; your battle is finished with his death." As Sookie followed Darkwinds gesture to the dead farmer he failed to recognize the pattern it was creating.

In the next instant Sookie was sailing through the air. Darkwind stood still as Sookie finally hit the ground, face first, a full fifty feet away and then rolled like a rag doll into the limbs of the downed tree. He narrowly missed the jagged stump the farmer was removing when Sookie attacked.

"Good throw, mon." Fairaday, the one who had been on the roof, now stood next to Maladay, his twin sister, who was admiring the throw as well.

"I missed." Darkwind growled and turned to pick up the Elf who he threw over his shoulder as he walked into the home.

As Sookie began to untangle him self from the broken limbs of the felled tree, Fairaday and Maladay looked at each other and started laughing. So hard they laughed, and for so long, that finally Fairaday had to sit down or fall from his hypoxia.

Darkwind carried Sarafeena into the middle of the house and sat her down hard onto a divan he found. The Elf sat frozen in fear staring at him. Then he placed his finger to his lips in an easily understood signal for silence before he started smashing things. Pictures on the wall, chairs, tables, nothing was spared his wrath.

Sarafeena knew she was the next to be bludgeoned. She watched with wide, round eyes the entire time Darkwind was wrecking the home, cringing with every blow. Tears formed and fell unnoticed. She was so terrified. Finally a jar of red roots was smashed with a chair leg.

When he withdrew from the once cheerful home, he threw the splintered wood, still dripping red juices, to the side of the wrecked door. Without looking at his traveling companions he simply stated, "Come, I have taken care of the child. She will not bother us again."

Sara watched the men, if you could call them that, through the only window in this room as they summoned their mounts. The nearly full moon rose as they tromped off into the unusually bright night. Sookie and Fairaday had already moved over the last rise when Darkwind, bracketed by the rising moon, turned and rose to his full height in his stirrups and howled towards the home.

Just as Maladay passed him, hurried on by his roar, Darkwind saw the Elf girl astride her big cat racing off towards the East. He shrugged his indifference. At least she wasn't heading towards Southshore.


	4. Chapter 4

There were voices roaring in her aching ears and then hushed beyond the threshold of sound. She gasped as the whirling, nauseating sensation apparently spun her, and the bed which she felt beneath her, around and around. She clung to the sides of the bed as pain jabbed through her head centering somewhere directly in the middle of her skull. She screamed, as much in protest at the pain as from the terrifying lack of a solid ground as she felt the presence of another forcing itself into her consciousness. When she grasped hold of it she felt it struggle to claim her, but she refused to go easily. Her eyes snapped open, as yet unseeing, as she grabbed hold and wrestled with this thing that would drag her to her demise.

Until she saw those eyes ... so full of compassion and understanding, so crystal clear and depthless, like looking into the clearest mountain lake. So peaceful, so calm … she could see in them only concern for her. She stopped fighting and then tried to touch the face that had to hold those eyes in place. "Rest, dear heart. We shall talk at another time. Rest now." And she slid back into unconsciousness.

She was finally aware of a soft, smooth hand under her neck, of a liquid, warm and savory, in her mouth. A fit of coughing as it trickled down her sore throat left her gasping and weak. She experimentally opened her eyes, and the images before her did not lurch and spin.

"Who … are … you?" she managed to croak.

"Oh my dear Sayberry …"

"Is that who I am?" she asked confused.

"So the locket tells us," she was assured. "I'm Shara."

"Oh, that … awful …," and she felt herself drifting off into sleep, unable to resist that overwhelming urge. Comfortingly, her bed no longer rocked beneath her.

The rain striking against the window was a quiet staccato of rhythm softly filling the dark and quiet room she opened her eyes upon. The room, dimly lit by what Rae took for a tinted window opposite the sound of rain, was unfamiliar and strange. She lay still, trying to isolate the differences. These were not the walls of her cubical she shared with the other girls at the excavation site. Nor were they the walls of her bedroom at her Ancestral Home. These walls were more richly accented with inlays and the ceiling was higher. There was a space at the tops of the walls where some sort of artwork circled the room. This room was smaller, too. The furnishings, now that her eyes could focus in the dim light and she could distinguish details, were more finely crafted. She stirred trying to see more.

"Ah, our mystery lady is awake", a man's voice said. Light beyond the curtain as it parted flooded in from the outer room.

A woman passed under the man's arm as he held the curtains open, moving swiftly to the bedside.

"I remember you." Rae said with surprise. She had to swallow now to give her throat enough moisture even for the raspy croak she was able to create to speak with at first. "You're Sara,"

"Indeed," She smiled warmly. She passed a rose colored drink to Rae as she continued "I am Shara, but you can call me Sara if you wish, since I have not seen her since she was presented for training at the Temple in Darnassas." A shadow passed quickly before her eyes as a memory tried to surface but was pushed back into the corner of her mind it had been assigned before she continued, "And here is Loo, my mate."

Rae took the drink and drank it slowly. She could feel her throat loosening even before she finished drinking. As she tipped her head back to get the last drops, Loo was moving his hands in front of the window pane set high in the wall and peering over his shoulder at her to see if the light bothered her.

Rae watched the window increase the light it was shedding and realized it was not a window. She was not sure what to make of this strangeness. As the light increased, Rae found something new to stare at, "Your … ears."

"Oh, I know, hideous aren't they?" Sharra touched her right ear as she spoke. "But the one will heal and Merdan has promised me his incantations will make it grow to its original length to match its mate. We are lucky he was here attending to Consul Business when we found you. He was very concerned about you."

"You're … an Elf … aren't you?"

"That's right dear, from Darnassas." Sharra was now looking at Rae with an expression of concern.

Rae looked again at Loo and realized he was not human either. She slowly reached for and drew the covers higher over her as if they could protect her.

"What's wrong dear?" Sharra saw fear enter Raes' eyes. "Are you sure you're alright? You act like you have never seen Elves before ... "

Rae began to believe what she learned from her tutor was true. He told her he was old long before she was born, and he was all she had when her father died. Myrdden was her first formal teacher. He told her bedtime stories of Knights and Dragons, of Wizards and Warlocks (he insisted there was a difference), of Fairy folk like Elves, both good and bad. It was fascinating what stories he could tell. Now it seemed Rae had stepped right into one of his tales.

"Sayberry?" Sharra was very concerned for her charge.

"How do you know my name?

Sharra looked upon Sayberry with compassion for a moment. For answer, she reached for and picked up a locket from the table next to the bed. "You had this held tightly in your hand when Loo found you."

Rae took the locket and looked at it. It was the same one she had picked out of the mud at the dig. The front held the Gordon Family Crest in gold and silver and some other filaments she could not name. When she turned it over she saw her name, her full name, written on the back.

"That is you, isn't it?" Sharas' voice held a world of compassion and concern.

"Yes, that is my name. Only my father has ever called me Sayberry. And he has been dead now for seven years. But it was also my Great-Grandmothers' name, and her Great-Grandmothers before her. It's a tradition in our family that every third generation names the first daughter Sayberry Rae. Or, it was. I will be the last to carry that name. Mother died in the plane crash that I was born in. I am an only child." Rae was staring at the locket trying not to cry at all the unfamiliar things around her. Her telling even this much of how she was alone in the world made this even more difficult. She did not see the tears Sharra shed for her.

"Those Engineers and their flying machines, it's a wonder more people are not killed in them." Loo was sitting now in a chair by the window where Rae saw the sky beyond was lightening into morning.

As Rae raised the chain of the locket over her head, she saw another man now stood in the doorway. "I see you're awake at last. You gave us all quite a scare young lady."

"Myrdden!" Rae was so relieved to finally see a familiar face she almost yelled his name.

"How do you know my name!" he demanded taking a step further into the room.

Rae shrank back into the bedding as her kind teacher and lifelong friend became more menacing looking than she had ever seen him before.

"Merdan! You're scaring the child!" Sharra was standing now between the two while Loo had produced a deadly looking dagger seemingly from out of thin air. "Can't you see her wits are addled? Now stand back, I'll not have any fighting inside my home." At this statement she looked sternly at Loo who lost his knife as fast as he had found it, although Rae didn't hear it drop to the floor, and raised both his hands to show Shara.

"I demand civility in my home from all its occupants, at all times. As for names and such, Merdan or Myrdden, I am certain there will be plenty of time to learn those answers without threats." This time she glared directly at the Chanter who seemed to shrink slightly as he bowed his acceptance.

"Now, if you can promise to behave, you are invited to the dinner Loo and I should be cooking." Sharra pointedly raised her arm for Loo to take, which he did, and then escorted her out of the room.

"Smart man," Myrdden said to Rae while jerking his head at the retreating couple. He was smiling. "They have lived in this home for almost a hundred years now, and every time I have visited them it has been an adventure. But that's a tale for another time."

"It IS you Myrdden." Raes' face lit up with a smile of obvious relief as she relaxed her death grip on the blankets. "You had me so scared that for a moment I thought I had mistaken someone else for you."

"That has yet to be proven to me young lady." Myrdden looked her over. "I do not remember ever having met you, but you seem to know me very well. Well enough to pronounce my name correctly at least. Where do you hail from?"

"Lakeshire Resorts … well, it is actually named Lakeshire, but the Resort has bought up so much of the lakefront property that it seems the city has all but," Rae fluttered her hand in the air, "vanished."

"Do you know where you are now? No? Well, you are on the outskirts of Lakeshire and as far as I know, there are no 'Resorts' here. A smithy, yes. A Mill, an Inn and even a Town Hall as of last year, yes, but no Resort. What is this 'Resort' anyways?"

"Lakeshire on Lake Everstill has been a Resort town for … well, forever. You yourself taught me that once Lakeshire grew to encircle the entire west end of the lake it incorporated as a proper city. But that happened generations before I was even born."

"You doubt me … maybe you will not doubt your own eyes? Come over to the window then girl."

Rae raised the covers to find she was dressed in a lovely nightgown of lavender and dark blue fabric couched with golden lame over all the seams. So she slid out from under the covers and walked to the window. Myrddens' eyes widened somewhat for a moment before he picked up a robe that was on the back of the chair near the window and draped it over her shoulders. While she was sticking her arms into the sleeves she began to look at the beautiful lake outside her window.

The little collection of buildings she saw there was very nice. It seemed that it was built just at the edge of the wharf where all the main businesses of the town were also located. But this was not Lakeshire. She looked across the lake to where the little cemetery was. The big stones that marked the graves of the first Gordons to inhabit Lakeshire were not there, but the small cemetery was.

She turned to face Myrdden again and in raising her gaze slightly she caught sight of the bridge. "By the Light, how can this be?" It couldn't … was not … could not … Rae became filled with dread. "That bridge collapsed four years ago. It was the oldest bridge in the world still in use. Dozens were drowned in their cars when it happened. Yet there it is, not yet finished being built?" Rae moved back from the window and began to unconsciously move her hands in a quick warding pattern she had used ever since she was a little girl.

Myrdden had only a moment to guard himself between recognizing the pattern and being thrown to the wall.

From somewhere below came quick footsteps and Sharas' voice yelling. "I said no fighting in my home!" In a moment Sharra was in the doorway. Myrdden was just getting back to his feet and Rae was encased inside a Barrier of Light with a look of terror on her face.

"What is this?! Turn it off! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"


	5. Chapter 5

Myrdden groaned slightly as he climbed to his feet. "Calm down miss, calm down. This is your prison, not ours. Just calm down and wait and you will release yourself from it."

Years of blind faith and love for her old tutor warred in her mind with the experiences of this last few minutes. In the end, Rae responded by sitting down and clearing her thoughts with the simple breathing exercise Myrdden taught her when she was six. But she did not close her eyes as she usually did.

As her emotions drained from her, so did the Barrier. "How did I do that?"

"You don't know?"

Rae shook her head, her eyes never leaving Myrddens'.

"Who has trained you? They should have told you about using your Divine Shield inside a home."

"What do you mean 'trained'? I have never even seen much less done something like that in my life!"

"Where did you learn that gesture you performed?"

"My father. He taught it to me for times when I am afraid. He said it would protect me. But he never said what from … come to think of it; you never said what from either."

"Everything, my dear. Did he teach you any other gestures?"

"You know he did."

"I know of no such thing, little one."

Rae was a little exasperated by Myrdden at times. "He taught me …" Rae began to move her hands when Sharra caught them in hers.

"Sayberry, Merdan," Sharra spoke as she looked around the room. The chair she used to enjoy the morning sun from was in a broken heap, the bed had been shoved to the far wall, and even Merdan still looked a little disheveled. He was regarding young Sayberry with caution, and a certain level of respect. "Maybe you two should take this discussion out to the back yard."

"That is the voice of wisdom Shara. I will wait downstairs so you may get dressed, young lady Sayberry."

* * *

It didn't take Sharra long to find something Rae liked. "You know that your clothes were totally destroyed by the lightning bolt that hit you." Sharra continued to describe to Rae how she was found.

Myrdden was busy setting up some items in the yard and did not see Rae come down the back stairs wearing her new blue pantsuit that Sharra called a Festival Suit. It fit her as if it was made just for her.

"Has no one taught you about your gift?" Myrdden hadn't even turned around, but he seemed to know she was there. "You exhibit an affinity for the Light so I am assuming you have at least spoken to one of the emissaries from the Cathedral of Stormwind, Hmm?"

"No. No one from the Cathedral has ever tried to enlist me into the clergy." Rae smiled as Myrdden finished his preparations. She knew what he was up to now.

"Not the Clergy, I can't imagine your personality ever settling in with that bunch, rather with the Knights of the Silver Hand." He finished his preparations, "Now, young lady, I am going to ask you to perform a little test .. here …"

"I'm ready."

Rae stood in the center of the circle Myrdden had created with his boxes. Her eyes were closed and she was balanced on her left foot with her right leg extended behind her. Her arms were half raised so her hands were crossed in front of her breast.

"You have done this before?"

"As often as you would allow me."

"But my dear", Now Myrdden was getting a little exasperated over this young lady's insistent behavior, "we have only just met."

Rae sighed heavily, "Ok, whatever you say … On three then. One, Two, …"

Rae closed her eyes again as she began her dance when she would have said three, and Myrdden began the test at the same moment. Rae heard the first popper go off almost in front of her. She was only a step off so after performing the hand gesture there she quickened her pace a little to catch herself up. The second pop was right where it should be.

On she went performing her 'Dance of the Poppers'. He had never shown her how he made the poppers 'POP', but she knew all the hand gestures and murmurings for each one. He always set them to go off in the same pattern so Rae had started playing this game with her eyes closed. She would imagine herself as the only performer on a stage and had perfected a little dance that was timed to place her in front of each popper just as it was going off. Some parts of the dance that filled the longer gaps between 'POPs' felt like a martial arts sequence out of some movie. She imagined what the soundtrack would be like as she performed in one of those choreographed fights that made the audiences wish they could do that too.

She was hard pressed to keep up today. Either she was out of practice, or Myrdden was purposely making it harder on her by shortening the timings between the stations. When she timed it just right, like she did on her last birthday, she could open her eyes and catch the last ball, which had pleased Myrdden the most on that day … the last day she had seen him before today.

Myrdden had also added a flash of light to each of the poppers so she was glad she had her eyes closed since she was certain it would have distracted her. Some of the effects were very bright while others seemed to cause the hair on her forearms to stand on end. Each time she came back to the center, usually after two poppers had gone off, she performed the same gesture. Rae called that her 'Centering' motion while Myrdden had called it Consecration. She used it as her marker between the various steps of her dance when she was creating it.

A smile broke out on her face as she came to the final gesture. She was covered in sweat from her exertions as she began the final sequence which included a pirouette ending in a raised fist gesture. She opened her eyes just as she finished murmuring the last syllable of the little rhyme that went with raising her fist. From somewhere overhead a bolt of white light struck down into the stump directly in front of her. And she froze in her last position as the ball from the last popper smacked into her open left hand.

The yard was torn up in a circle all around her. In some places there were holes still smoldering, in others the ground looked as if it had spun in circles. Underneath her feet, and all through the area she had danced in, the yard was still as smooth as it was when she had closed her eyes except for the lines of white light woven into the grass.

Slowly Rae relaxed from her dance pose. As she stared, a sprout began to grow from where the light had hit the stump.

Sharra and Loo had come outside when they saw the first flashes of the test. Now they came forward to congratulate Rae and stand with her. Rae tried to understand what had happened, but it was beyond anything she had ever experienced.

When Loo slapped her on the back, Sharra smacked Loo for being so rough.

Rae noticed Myrdden pour a vial of a milky fluid that puddled and created a kind of mirror on the stump. Then he did the strangest thing Rae had ever seen him do, he began talking to the spilled milk as if he was talking to someone. Rae stepped closer to see and hear better, if she could.

"No, my Lord, her powers are not for the Mages or the Priests, they are decidedly those of a Paladin. … Her Catas are unconventional … I have little doubt. … A _very_ powerful manifestation of the Light resides in her. … As you wish, we shall set out for Stormwind after the evening meal for the Masters to evaluate her." Myrdden straightened and gestured at the puddle which evaporated without any steam.

"Why were you talking to the stump?"

Myrdden began to answer when he looked at Rae closely. "You don't know what that was?"

"That puddle? You spilled milk and spoke to it. … What have you been smoking Myrdden?" Rae had a twinkle in her eye for the jest she just made.

"Tell me Sayberry …"

"Rae please, you know I have not used my given name since dad died."

"Lady Sayberry," Myrdden had reached the end of his patience for this fantasy of hers. "As strongly as you insist I know you, I must insist that we have never met before last week when you were found by Loo."

"Last week? I have been here a week?"

"Yes. I presume you have wrestled this last week to free yourself from the affliction attacking the Emerald Dream. Otherwise it would have been easy to wake you upon my arrival."

"The WHAT?!"

Myrdden eyed her for a brief moment and changed tactics. "Look around you … You tell me you have never been trained, yet those evidences of power that resulted from your somewhat unconventional dance are real. And we three witnessed that it was you alone who did this."

Rae looked once again at the destruction in the yard while Myrdden was speaking. Even Sharra was nodding as if to confirm what Myrdden was saying. She knew in her heart she had done it, but she just could not believe she had.

"… AND, you say you don't know about the Emerald Dream OR where the Divine Shield came from that you protected yourself with earlier … Tell me, How have you survived this long without knowing what talents you posses, who taught you those hand movements, who taught you those words you spoke with them and that dance."

"As I have said before," now it was Rae getting angry, "The hand gestures were taught me by my father, the funny words and the dance steps at each station were taught to me by you," Rae raised her hand as Myrdden took a breath to protest, "or your twin or someone who had your name and looked exactly like you only a little older … and nicer. I came up with the steps that connect them together." Rae glared at Myrdden.

"You must come up with something more convincing than that, my dear. What evidence can you give us, give me, that we have ever met before."

"You have a tattoo of a green dragon curled in sleep upon your forearm, and if you place your hand over it and murmur something, her name shows over her and her eyes look open for a moment."

Myrdden was staring at Rae, unmoving.

"Is that true?" Loo asked as both he and Sharra turned to look at him.

For an answer, Myrdden finished rolling up his sleeve. When he presented his arm to them, there was the green dragon. "What were the words … do you remember?"

"You never spoke loud enough for me to hear." Rae looked about for something to make marks with and someplace to write. "You made me write down symbols you said represented the words until I got them stroke perfect." Finally she knelt next to one of the overturned ground areas and wrote in the loose dirt the five symbols she had learned.

Myrdden covered the tattoo and read the symbols but said the words so softly they were all but inaudible. When he removed his hand the tattoo had changed. The eyes, which were now open, looked about for a moment. Just as they found Rae, the dragon seemed to actually smile and the eyes closed. Over the back of the dragon a symbol grew, stroke by stroke until Sharra whispered in awe the dragons' name.

"See?" Rae had a triumphant smile while Sharra and Loo looked first at Lady Sayberry, and then Merdan for his reaction.

Myrdden slowly sat down upon the stump. "There are greater forces at work here … than have ever tested me before."

* * *

"She's here! She's here! She's finally here!" While her physical body could not move, her consciousness that was the dragon's presence in the Emerald Dream was dancing and repeating over and over again, "She's here!"

A mist began to rise next to the dancing nymph and another woman materialized, smiling. "I've seen her. Did you know it would be a woman?" The woman that was the dragon continued to dance, trying to grab the hands of the other woman. "There is much to be done all of a sudden."


	6. Chapter 6

As they began to go back inside, Loo gave Rae a glass of blue juice. "To replenish you," he told her.

"A sport drink?" Rae took a sip.

Loo pondered for a moment, "I don't know what kind of drink that would be, but this will restore the Manna you used in that test."

Rae had finished the drink before Loo had finished his sentence. "Mmmm." The drink was so good Rae had her eyes closed in admiration. " … what is Manna?"

Manna was one of the things they talked about over dinner.

Rae complimented Sharra on the wonderful stew she had prepared. She remembered what her father had told her about never asking questions she didn't want to know the answer to, so she never did know what made up some of the ingredients, but it was very good just the same. Then it was time to go.

As Myrdden and Rae walked down the hill and onto the boardwalk that was the main street for Lakeshire, Loo turned to Sharra and spoke, "With all that happened around her, do you think her mentioning Sara was an accident?" All Sharra could do was look at the retreating forms of the young woman and the Wizard for a long moment before shaking her head slowly, "I'll prepare the other guest room, just in case."

It seemed that many knew Myrdden, calling to him and stopping them as they told him of their more recent happenings. He introduced Rae to everyone he spoke as 'The Lady Sayberry' (which sounded so grand to Rae) and they in turn bowed or curtseyed or saluted to her.

One lady came up from behind them and gave Myrdden a paper sack with a nod and a wink. "I see you have no place to call home, Lady Sayberry. I would be honored if you would carry the Hearthstone for my Inn." As she spoke she motioned over her shoulder to the first building they had passed on the wharf.

"The Lady Sayberry is still recovering her memory from a bad experience …," Myrdden began when Rae interrupted him by placing her hand upon his forearm.

"I do not know what a Hearthstone is, but the cooking and crafts of the Inn at Lakeshire are known far and wide. Of course I would be honored to call this place home for as long as you will have me." As she curtseyed to the Inn-Keeper, she saw a shimmer all around her and felt a weight added to her hip. She looked to her waist and saw a small stone hanging at her side. One side seemed polished and bore no mark or device but did have a small dimple on it, while the other carried the same design as the sign that hung over the door. How the Inn-Keeper had placed it there without moving was another of the mounting number of mysteries to Rae.

"The Inn at Lakeshire … I like that. You shall always be welcome here, Lady Sayberry."

An officious looking man came up to Myrdden as they passed the Town Hall and asked if he would deliver a scroll to the Smithy at Goldshire, since they were headed to Stormwind. By the time they reached the foot of the Bridge, the guards were standing at attention just as if they were persons of real importance.

At the middle of the span Rae moved to the unfinished railing to admire the beauty of the view. The sun was setting behind her as she looked at the opposite end of Lake Everstill. The old castle, which had been remodeled into a high dollar bed and breakfast, was overlooking the Eastern end of the lake just as she remembered. Except there were no lights to show the restaurant on the top of the battlements or the banners that hung on the crenulations of the restored Stonewatch Keep.

"This is so much like my home, and then again, not." Everyone Rae had met was so open and helpful. She wished everyone in her Lakeshire was just the same.

"Come, Lady Sayberry. I am certain the answers to your questions can be found in Stormwind."

They continued across the bridge where Rae had another surprise. Instead of the bus station that she expected, there were two of the largest Eagles she had ever seen sitting in nests next to a shack. One seemed to be cleaning what remained of a lions' front leg. Rae crossed behind Myrdden to walk with him between the Eagle and herself, in case the other one was hungry.

"You must be new to these parts to be afraid of a Griffon." A beautiful woman came out of the shack, the smile on her face seemed to light up the very ground around her.

She was fingering something that sounded like coins in her hands as she walked towards them.

"Are they safe?"

Laughter colored her voice as she responded. "Indeed they are, Miss …."

"Sayberry, this is one of the fastest and safest ways of travel we have available to us." Myrdden explained.

"You mean, you ride them?!" Raes' eye went wide in surprise as she pointed at the Gryphons and looked at Myrdden to be sure he was not teasing her.

"We do … but maybe not tonight, hmm?"

"I'm surprised to see you walking Myrdden. I thought you would just open a Portal and step through whenever you wanted to cover any respectful distance." There was a twinkle in her eyes as she chided Myrdden.

"My good Lady Ariena Stormfeather, I'll have you know I walked long before I flew, and flew a long ways before I mastered the use of Portals. Besides, there is no better way to show off the beauties of our land, and teach a young Lady how to manage her abilities than a good long walk in this wonderful Spring weather."

"Then this is the Lady's first visit to Lakeshire? I must celebrate this day for the new friend it has brought me."

The Griffin-Mistress raised and showed Rae a coin in her hand before she lowered it to the stone at her hip. When she touched the stone there was a small flash and the coin was gone. "Now you will always be able to fly back to here, should you ever choose to do so." They moved on after a few more moments of polite chatter, leaving the valley of Everstill behind.

When they arrived at the Crossroads, Myrdden gave the guard there the paper sack the lady from the Inn had given to him, and told him it was from a secret admirer. Even though, they both chuckled a moment before the guard thanked Myrdden profusely for the 'gift'. They did not remain with the guard long since it was beginning to be difficult to see now that night was drawing down upon them.

The moon was rising early tonight, which meant it was near full. It shined almost enough light for them to walk safely. Rae was a step or two ahead of Myrdden when he called softly for her to wait. As she began to turn, she caught a movement in the corner of her eye. She raised her hands to fend off the shadow and neatly caught a leather ball before it hit her.

"HUZZAH! You are the first one to catch my surprise in days!" A young man stepped out of the bushes near the road to smile warmly at them both. When he saw the look of disapproval on Myrdden's face he bowed low. "Forgive me old, old, very old, friend. Had I known you were with this young lady, I would have thrown the ball at you first."

"Had I not known it was you in the bushes, I would have used you for target practice long ago."

"Will you not at least introduce me to your beautiful charge before feeding me to the wolves?"

As if on cue, a great silver wolf stepped out of the bushes behind the young man.

"LOOK OUT!" Rae cried as she jumped up and pirouetted. The wolf was suddenly lax and dazed as she threw the ball at it.

At the same moment Myrdden was yelling "NO SAYBERRY", the young man yelled "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Rae had just picked up a fallen branch near her when the young man threw himself over the wolf as if to protect it. "Don't wrestle with it, RUN!"

"THESE ARE FRIENDS!"

Rae stopped. She looked back and forth between the two. "These? Both?"

"Yes, Sayberry. He is Ransom, a Hunter, and this is his companion, Trigger."

"Companion? You mean like a pet?"

Ransom snorted indignantly, "A kitten is a pet, a chicken can be a pet or dinner, this is my best friend. Don't you know anything?" Ransom continued to protect his companion while Trigger looked at Rae from under half lidded eyes.

"Ransom," Myrdden began, "it is my fault. Sayberry here has had an unusual experience that has robbed her of her memory I believe, or scrambled it at the least. She knows things, but doesn't. And she doesn't know the most common of things we all know."

Rae lowered her branch. "I'm sorry. There are so many strange things in this land. I thought you were in danger when Trigger came out of the bushes."

"I have been taught to forgive when it is asked, but I am not inclined to forgive you so easily when it is my friend you tried to hurt." While Ransom spoke he released his hold on Trigger who stepped very carefully towards Rae to smell her scent. Once he had gotten a good enough smell, he placed one paw in front of him, dropped his shoulder and raised his haunches.

"Will you look at that …" Ransom whispered.

"It would seem that Trigger is honoring you, Lady Sayberry. This is not something I have ever seen him or any Hunters Companion do except when they choose their companion, like Ransom is to Trigger."

Rae slipped to her knees and set aside the limb to extend her hand. "Friends?"

Trigger raised his paw and placed it into Raes' open hand then seemed to speak something in response. Ransoms' eye flew open as his link to his companion allowed him to understand Trigger much better. "Till death. That is the promise of a Companion Protector." Ransom screwed up his face looking at Rae as he whispered, "Who are you?"

"I am a lost and very tired girl. The more I learn, the more lost I feel. Myrdden, is there anywhere we can stay nearby? I mean just for the night?"

"Yes. Just over that rise is the Stables I was aiming for before were met your new friends."

Trigger got up and began to lead the way through the night. Ransom caught up and walked next to Trigger with his hand on his back, his fingers intertwined into his fur. With Myrdden bringing up the rear, Rae felt both surrounded and safe in spite of the many quick glances Ransom snuck at her as they walked.

"Very intriguing." Myrdden muttered to himself. He had much to talk to the head of his order about.


	7. Chapter 7

Tired as she was, Rae expected to be out like a light. But when she had finally been shown to a place to sleep and had relaxed into the rushes, she could not. It seemed that every few minutes she heard yet another small creak or squeal or something she had never heard before. Early in the night Ransom and Trigger settle down outside the hanging tablecloth that served as her door. Later it was Myrddens' snoring from the next room. Very early in the morning and after the moon had set, it was something in the woods nearby catching its dinner. When Rae awoke and saw the sky was brightening she decided she had fought to sleep long enough.

Ransom was curled just to the side of her doorway, his black curly hair filled with the straw that he was sleeping on. Trigger was sitting up in the middle of the room, waiting or watching, it made no difference to him. And Myrdden was snoring softly while splayed out over his bales of straw. It looked like Rae was the only one to have been given a mat to sleep upon.

Once Rae left the loft they were in, she was unsure where to go next, until Trigger nudged her hip. He took a few steps and then looked over his shoulder at Rae. She knew a 'Follow me' gesture when she saw it, so she followed him through the Logging Camp.

As she walked, she recognized a few of the plants … Thistles and Honeysuckle, wild corn and even carrots were scattered about. She heard a commotion and realized they were near the stables. There she saw the most beautiful White Stallion tromping playfully around in the paddock behind the barn. It seemed that there was a game afoot.

There were three men trying to catch the Stallion. Every time they got close … which seemed far too often to be just luck … The horse would step or jump or vault away out of reach and neigh at them like it was laughing. Rae couldn't help laughing as well as she watched the Stallion playing with these men.

"Oh, ye think it's funny do ye?" One of the men called out. Dust fell from him in a great cloud as he got up from the dirt and slapped his legs with his hat. "Maybe ye should give it a try."

"She be a Hunter, Jax. Lookit thet wolf she be travel'n wit."

"A Hunter? Not I." Rae smiled as she spoke. "Not that I would not wish to be friends with such a beautiful animal as this." She was petting Trigger between the ears as she spoke. "He looks to Ransom, who showed us the way here last night."

One of the men had snuck up close enough to toss a rope over the stallions head while he was distracted by the conversation. But the stallion had other plans today than being caught. He lowered his head when the rope went over it. When the man cinched the rope and draped his other arm over the stallions' mane he crowed with jubilation … until the stallion reared up so suddenly that the man grabbed hold of the rope instead of letting go. When the rope was straight, the stallion had reached his full height and threw his head. The man was suddenly flying through the air as he was whipped off the end of the line.

A cloud of dust rose high where the man struck the ground as the stallion once again laughed at the men and trotted around the fence to the other side of the enclosure. Rae went to make sure the fallen man was alive. He was, although he had a bloody lip and was shaken badly.

"We're gonna miss breaking the fast again Jax. Just stun it and let's get this over with."

Even as Rae decided she did not like that third hand, she smelled breakfast cooking somewhere. So she stepped to the edge of the woods and pulled up several of the wild carrots. As she brushed them off, she walked towards the Stallion. Looking up, without moving her head, she saw she had the Stallions' attention.

She did not have to pretend about liking the carrot she had now bitten into. It was very sweet and juicy. What she did have to work at was not looking at the Stallion. Sure enough, the Stallion began to walk towards her, snuffling the air with his nose far out in front of him. He was soon reaching his head over the railing he was penned behind trying to get a better smell of what Rae was eating.

Rae gently pushed the horses' face away from the carrot after letting it have a full sniff of it. He neighed so loudly in her ear she would have been stunned, had she not been expecting just such a trick from such a crafty Stallion. Now she knew she had his undivided attention as she began to walk casually along the fence towards the barn. She broke one of the carrots and extended half to the Stallion while she nibbled on the other half. Rae looked at the Stallion for just a moment and shook her head as she withdrew the carrot and turned to walk around the paddock and up to the open door. The Stallion shook his head mightily and neighed loudly once again, but Rae missed a step as she walked calmly through the Stable doors.

After entering the Stables, she heard the clomp, clomp, of the Stallions hooves on the wooden floor right behind her. The first man, the one with the shoulder knot, knew enough not to get in the way of this procession so he waited in the paddock as the other two made their way to the infirmary. When both Rae and the Stallion were inside, he softly closed the doors while Rae began to feed the carrots to the Stallion. As the latch clicked in place, the Stallion turned to look at the closed doors then nodded his head up and down while Rae made soft noises to help calm him. For a moment Rae looked into the Stallions' deep blue eyes before he whuffled and searched her hands for another piece of carrot. He had given up the game.

Now that the Stallion was inside, the man took over. He nodded his thanks as Rae gave up the last pieces of carrot and then patted the Stallion on the neck before following her nose to the kitchens.

Myrdden was already there, and so was Ransom who looked relieved to see Trigger take up his guard position next to the door. A hearty breakfast was just exactly what Rae needed right now.

* * *

Trigger hunted a few coneys which he set at Raes' feet while the three humans planned their travels. Ransom was headed in another direction than Stormwind so after he cleaned the rabbits and wrapped them for her they each went their separate ways.

As they traveled, Myrdden helped her understand this new land she was in, and just exactly what the motions of her dance would do here. It seems they called upon some power inherent in this world. Or was the power inherent in her? How she used that power was up to her. It could be called upon to heal or destroy. Her 'Dance of the Poppers' utilized talents crossing the entire spectrum. Myrdden admitted to her that while he had never seen it danced to before, he had administered that test several times. None, he said, had been able to call upon the entire spectrum, as she had.

After they finished their meal that evening, while they still sat around the dying embers of the campfire, Myrdden explained how there was a battle between the Light and Dark forces over the magics of this land. And that each person was involved in this battle even if they did not wish to be, that each person had inside them the Light and the Dark. It was their choice to make between the two.

"Which one will win? In me." Rae asked quietly as the import of this battle became real to her.

After a moment of gazing deeply into Sayberry's eyes, Myrdden answered, "The one you feed."

They spent the next day in the fields near a tower Myrdden told her was named Azora just off the road they were following. Here Myrdden had her focus her attention on some feature or animal nearby and perform one part of her dance at a time. She learned much about what each movement was able to do. Some of it was thrilling, sometimes the results were sobering.

One time, she slipped upon the gravel under her feet as she cast and suddenly found herself sitting against a tree with the wind knocked out of her ten feet away from where she had been standing casting her attack. Myrdden calmly walked up to her with a slight smile on his face. "That is what we in the spell-casting community call Pushback. It always happens every time you cast, but when you cast wrong, it can be devastating."

He checked her over and instructed her in how to cast an envelope of healing, which she then did. Oh what sweet relief she felt as the blue aura coalesced over her and her aches and pains melted away.

When they came through Goldshire they intended stopping only long enough to leave a message with the Forge from the Lakeshire Mayor. But the work there fascinated Rae so much that the Journeyman who managed the Forges gave permission for his Senior Apprentice to give some instruction to her. The miner also had some words for her about how to find Gold and Silver, and what Copper looked like while still in the ground. By the time her curiosity had been satisfied, Myrdden had reserved a room for them at the Lions Inn. For her actually, as he spent the night downstairs 'getting the news of the kingdom', he called it. But Rae thought he weaved a bit too much in their walk the following morning to be just talking news all night.


	8. Chapter 8

Sarafeena finally made it to Aerie Peak. Once she mentioned Darkwind, she was rushed past the great battle tanks and into the main conference room to report her news.

Someone shoved a mug of Cherry Grog at her and she drank it for just a moment to help catch her breath. The faces of the Dwarves were grim around her at the news of the farmstead that was now desolate. A party was dispatched immediately to find the women folk and children of that farm.

After several times telling of her ordeal, Sara was shown a bunk in the woman's dorm where she lay searching for sleep. 'Had I only known,' she thought to herself, 'I would have stayed and searched before running … for help.' But when she had arrived, the Horde were already surrounding the man and there was no one else in sight. She had strained her own abilities beyond her experiences just getting next to the house as she did, and was caught. Why didn't they kill her too?

That night the stories at the hearth centered on Darkwind and the hunt for him as well as his escapes from those who searched for him. The Dwarves of this fortress knew of Darkwind, and the kinds of parties he liked to escort to Southshore and other places in these parts. They thought they had him once when he was leaving Jintha'Alor but it turned out he had three others hidden as a trap. They were buried a few inches IN THE GROUND. When the Dwarven patrol sprung their trap, they were suddenly in the middle of his.

When it was over, the only Dwarf remaining was the one left on the ridge as lookout since he was only the armor bearer. Taking your time with important messages was not tolerated by the Dwarves of Aerie Peak. So it was only natural to them that the man was harshly treated the next day when he reported the battle. That is, until someone noticed the welt on the back of his head. He had not been lax in his duties; rather he had been knocked unconscious and unable to find his way back. And to prove it, Borok was called over to show the scar on his head, just behind his left ear.

A cheer was heard that worked its way down from the gates to the hearth when a small family, a mother and three children, one still suckling, were escorted into the room and made as comfortable as possible. They would have anything they wanted tonight, but in the morning they were headed back to Lakeshire where Millys husband Tanus had come from. She needed to tell her mother-in-law of her sons' death and start a new life where she felt safe. Sarafeena volunteered to travel with them, saying she was heading there anyways … to deliver a message … and visit her Aunt and Uncle.

So it was that when morning came Sara was surprised as she returned from the warm showers to find all her armor and arms had been repaired and oiled.

"Ye should take better care, little one." The Dwarf standing in the doorway spoke to her. "Some of that was nigh near to failing ye should a fight a happened upon ye."

Sara smiled and curtseyed holding her hand over her heart, and the top of her wrapped towel closed. "Thank you, my lord. I could not afford to repair them nor had I the time when I came in. Your gift is most appreciated and graciously accepted."

"Harrumph," he cleared his throat and dropped the leather jerkin onto the bed. "See to it they are taken care of and I will be repaid in full." He then turned and left the dorm, closing the door firmly behind him. Sara knew he was not speaking only of her accoutrements.

Once she had her under binding and legging on, she picked up the jerkin and a small coin purse fell to the floor. She scooped it up and found it held enough coins to easily take care of her for a month, or a family of four for a week … just enough time to get to Lakeshire.

Leaving early that morning was not such an easy thing to do. Traveling with three children made taking the Griffins impossible. So a small buckboard wagon was cleaned out and refitted for the journey. Thankfully, the Dwarves put some extra springs under the seat. Not ones to lose an opportunity, some refined Mithril Bars and other ore chunks for the smithy in Lakeshire also found its way to the bottom of the wagon. Then a false bottom was inserted so a cushion could be set inside for the family to rest on. It was decided that a cover also was needed to keep the children out of the sun or rain so spring metal was formed into ribs and a canvas tied to those. The morning was well spent by the time the wagon had been loaded and they were finally on their way.

* * *

Anar'alah, Anar'alah belore

Sin'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Sin'dorei

Anar'alah

Shindu Sin'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Sin'dorei

Anar'alah belore

Shindu Sin'dorei

Shindu fallah na

Sin'dorei

Anar'alah belore

Belore

The Blood Elf finished the long ending note with his cup raised in salute. He then tipped his mug to allow some of his wine to pour to the ground before he bowed once again to the Shaman, as he did when he stood to sing, and moved back to his seat around the campfire. He always took a few minutes in quiet contemplation after singing the Lament of the Highborne.

"Beautiful, Hysal. It has been a long time since I have heard it in the Thalassian tongue. You are a credit to the Blood Knights."

"Much has been lost to the ravages of time. I am honored that my efforts honor you." Hysal spun as he lowered himself to his seat, his back to the fire.

"Old songs make me head hurt," Fairaday returned to the fire and checked then removed two sticks with cooked rabbit on them. Maladay was right behind him to remove two more.

Sookie, sitting against a tree, looked at the pair as they worked to finish the dinner, it was their turn tonight, and they liked rabbit. "Hey, Maladay, why don't you talk more? You must have at least one thought in that head of yours."

Maladay simply walked off to where she had been cutting the rabbit into serving sized parts. Suddenly there was a knife vibrating in the tree above Sookies' head. "Next time I tink I talk lower, ya?"

A trickle of blood rolled down Sookies head, in front of his ear, as he reached up and pried the knife upward so he could roll out from under it. "I can get used to your silence."

The twins laughed as one as they finished setting the rest of the rabbits to cook and then served their unexpected guest and Darkwind.

"Darkwind, I would speak with you." Hysal whispered as he had finished his portion, then walked off into the shadows as Darkwind rose to follow. After they had moved away from the fire a few lengths Hysal began. "The Sin'dorai Elders dispatched The Blood Knights to all the cities of the Empire, I drew the area from the Sun River south to Stonewatch Keep to search for a danger the Shades believe to be upon us."

"I am Shaman, as you know." Through the bushes, Darkwind watched the others as he spoke. "And I too have felt a presence in that direction. When it first became known to me, it had no strength, no form. Then it began to move … It has not stopped yet. It becomes strong at times, and at other times so weak I cannot sense it. I fear one day I shall be standing right in front of it before I know my peril is upon me."

Hysal nodded. "If it is a friend, we are to bring it to Silvermoon City. If foe, we are to kill it before it grows too strong to be easily dealt with."

Darkwind glanced at Hysal, "I feel if you are not careful in your search, it will become a foe, and neither you nor the entire Royal Guard will be able to kill it. But believe me when I tell you this; like your brothers and sisters in arms your mission has always been to die at the hands of this prescience so the Shades can taste the power it wields."

Hysal knew his oath meant he would sometimes place his life in the hands of others. This time however, he understood that he already walked the path to his death. Hysals' eyes narrowed as he nodded his acceptance of this possible outcome.


	9. Chapter 9

Rae thought she knew Stormwind, but this version of it was beautiful.

The main roadway into Stormwind was lined with statues of people whose names were used on many streets in cities all across her world. She never did understand naming streets after once noble people. But as she read each plaque on every statue she began to understand how these men and women had shaped the future with their heroic deeds. Their futures seemed to be her ancient predecessors past in some ways. She felt a small amount of shame now for these people, that all they were known for now, her now, was addresses and how many accidents happened on the streets named for them.

She recognized many of the buildings, but they were not the same shops. There was a Cheese shop, a millenary, even a shop just to serve the needs of Guilds. Bron Ironbrand would sell his eye teeth to see that place.

The banners, the people, the open market, … everywhere she looked there was a zest for life she had never seen in Stormwind before, her Stormwind that is. She was beginning to believe her life had been lived in a pale echo, a shadow of where she was now, right now.

Shortly after arriving, Myrdden brought her to a place where there were more of the Giant Eagles. Here a man was posted as the Gryphon-Master. He was just as polite as the woman Rae had met near Lakeshire and he also offered her a coin that disappeared into her Hearthstone.

A great commotion seemed to be making its way up the entrance ramp as a man came rushing up yelling "Make way for the Kings' messenger. Make way for the King!" Rae squeaked in fright as one of the Eagles stepped out of his nest. The Eagle was not an eagle at all, it had the head and feathers of an Eagle, but the body of a Lion. As Rae stared, the man jumped onto the back of the Gryphon and off it flew.

"I believe I told you we traveled upon them, yes?" Myrdden was murmuring good naturedly into her ear.

There were comments often repeating the word 'Noob' and laughter all around her as Rae practically fell off the edge of the rampart trying to be sure her eyes were seeing what her brain was telling her. Bron had never mentioned the existence of such creatures in any of their conversations or in any of the documents Rae had read before joining the dig crew.

Then it was on to the Old Quarter where they entered an old fortress, old even for this time and place. Myrdden left Rae to make her own way 'around the room', as he told her. She was looked over by several men with a Masters Badge or a Senior Journeymen's Shoulder Knot. Each one seemed to have mastered some form of Fighting Style, and each one directed her, in a tired and sometimes bored voice, to go to the Cathedral for training.

Rae had had more than enough of this by the time the fourth one dismissed her with a snarl implying her inferiority. She had determined that if they all thought she should go to the Cathedral, then off she would go to the Cathedral. But first she focused upon this last pompous idiot and then raised her fist while she pirouetted. The man sat down hard upon the bench behind him. She kissed his cheek and whispered, "Remember that Honor is the reward of Virtue, and that your attitude has lost you some small amount."

She knew her way around Stormwind, even this one, to some extent. The walkways and streets were even named exactly like the one she knew. And she definitely knew how to get to the Cathedral from all the times her Father had brought her when she was a child. He was not a devout member of the congregation, but he insisted that her Mother would want her to go at least until she reached the age of decision. After his death she was mad at the world for leaving her all on her own and took it out most often on the Cathedral wall. Enough so that she was finally told to please stop coming until she had resolved to at least not kick the walls during the services. All the priests at the Cathedral seemed to want her to do was to trust the Light had a reason for her trials, and embrace some kind of compromise with it. She was never big on compromise when she was certain of something. So she chose to move on.

Shortly after her decision she was out hiking the back trails near what used to be an old mining area and had been attracted to an abandoned home by the yells of a woman. It turned out she was living there as a squatter and was giving birth right at that moment Rae walked up to the door. Something in the way she looked at Rae made a connection deep within her. Rae came in to hold the womans hand and comfort both her and her scared daughter who was the only person there to help her.

'After all', she told herself, 'once she found them she couldn't just leave them ... alone'. She helped as best as she could and marveled maybe as much as the mother at the little beauty when she was born. As she held the babe, she thought of how beautiful this new life was and whispered to the babe the words she heard in her heart, telling little Janissa how important she would be. Maybe it was her mothers' wish echoing in the room, she didn't know, but when she gave the child over to the mother she thanked Rae for her help and her blessings.

She arrived just before noon at the Cathedral which looked the same from the outside as the Cathedral she knew only a lot newer. Most of the decorative artwork on the outside was still intact. But then, there never was much other than well placed marble slabs to decorate the Cathedral. Its three spires reached up into the heavens, as if they could connect this building to the source of the Light by touching the clouds. The stairs were covered with a rug that was so richly blue and the trim so spotlessly gold, it must have been recently serviced or replaced.

She looked up and up at the spires as the bells of the city began to toll the hour. From all over rose the sounds of the bells ringing. At first they filled the air with their sound, but by the sixth tolling they were in unison. The beauty of their mingled sound created a carillon of the entire city. When the last toll faded into silence, the bells in the Cathedral began to ring. For ten minutes they rang sweet music over the city.

Rae had heard the rumor that there used to be bells in the Cathedral towers ever since she had first visited Stormwind. But no one could have ever described the beauty and intricacy of their ringing. Finally as the somber tolling of the biggest bell ended the symphony with its single note and every bell in Stormwind rang the quarter hour, Rae reached the top of the stairs and entered the Cathedral.

Many of the buildings she had seen in Stormwind had not changed as much as what they held. No so with the Cathedral. When she entered she expected to see the stark whitewashed walls and red stone pillars marching down the main hall filled with rows of benches that were rarely if ever filled. She remembered a hall filled with quiet shadows and the memories of brighter times, covered over with a layer of grime and almost measureless age. The rafters were filled with cobwebs and the stained glass windows had faded to panels of transparent pastel hues. All, that is, except for one pair of eyes in one window. She thought of them as her mothers eyes, filled with love and watching over her.

What she found instead was a totally different place. The floors and lower parts of the walls were set with patterns made from the natural white and blue marble. That much had not changed. But the alcoves had no huge doors to shut them off while the main hall was in use. There were no benches in the main hall. The windows all held breathtakingly beautiful mosaics of Priests, Bishops and even Knights standing under Banners and holding Pikes or various Swords in one hand and Shields or bandages in the other. The colored glass of the mosaics was still vibrant and true, but the one she remembered for its eyes was just a series of pastel forms fitted together into a kind of cloudy-day picture.

The Central line of pillars was white marble with rings of grey. The caps and bases were turquoise with gold vines and flowers set into the stone. She remembered the empty channels that decorated her Cathedral and realized that these gold vines had long ago been pried out and sold off. What a waste. If even just those vines had still remained, the interior would have been spectacular.

The marble of the floors was still flat with no low spots from all the people wearing it down, walking the same paths over the ages. This Cathedral was not only clean right up to the rafters that held vibrant banners swaying in the light breeze, but held a feeling of health and life just as vibrant as the marketplace. Light filled all the areas she could see.

Instead of an alter behind a railing that seemed more like a barrier, there was a blue and gold rug running the entire width of a set of stairs up to a simple wooden table on a wide dais where someone was teaching something with an excitement just as intense as the attention of the pupil who had to learn it. And to the left was an entire wing that was not in the Cathedral she knew. This Cathedral had nothing dull or dreary or oppressive about it.

A man studying some papers in his hands paused as he was crossing from what Rae would learn was the Sunrise Wing on the left to the Sunset Wing on the right and slowly began to turn back to the East. He stopped, maybe on purpose, in a ray of light that was colored rose by the simple stain glass window it passed through. The light reflected off the paper in his hands in such a way it illuminated his face. The blue of his jerkin seemed to match his eyes perfectly. His wavy blonde hair shone like a halo in the ray of sunlight now circling him where he stopped.

A robed woman standing near the door had said something that rolled around in Raes' mind until she realized she was expecting a response. "I'm sorry, you said something?" She spoke a little louder than she thought she would. Her voice carried easily through the Cathedral. She looked at the lady whose depthless eyes caught hers as easily as a spider's web catches a fly. Her white hair was woven into an intricate mat that formed a sort of crown around her head. And her robes seemed to glow with a pale white light all their own.

"Yes, M'lady, hail and welcome to Stormwind Cathedral. I have been waiting for you a long time." The woman smiled, "I was told to expect a young apprentice Paladin at about this hour. We had not expected a woman of your years, grown I meane, Oh that is not coming out right at all is it, but such is the way of The Light. Where have you journeyed from?"

Rae looked behind her and sawe no one else. She must be speaking to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about. Are you speaking to me? Are … are you calling me a Paladin?"

"Yes, M'lady. You are here to further your training, are you not? Where are your Accoutrements then, I will be happy to tend to them for you as you get settled after reporting in to one of the Lords. Which one has sent for you?"

"No lord has 'sent' for me, Just as there is no such thing as a Paladin any more if there even WAS such a thing." Rae interrupted her. "And who told you to expect ME? Look," Rae took a step towards the Sister as she gave herself over to the anger that had been threatening to run out of her control all morning. The greeter took a step backwards as her eyes opened a little larger.

"Myrdden brought me to some men in the Old Quarter who asked me questions and told me to hold a knife or a sword or some other such stupid thing THEY considered a 'test', and each one told me to come here. So here I am. Now, if YOU tell me why I'm here then we shall both know." The air around her seemed to crackle and shimmer with an energy borne from her mood. If the girls in her former school could have seen her now, they never would have dared to tease her … about her name, about her hair, about her mood swings … ever.

The man up the hall now dropped what he was carrying, which made a loud noise that echoed through the entire hall attracting everyone's attention. Startled, Rae swung about and saw him become surrounded by a ring of light as he began making hand motions from her Dance of the Poppers. As she was already somewhat angry, this insult made her immediately furious! How had he stolen HER dance moves?

From the back of the Sunset Wing a dignified man wearing Gold Inlaid plate armor and a richly detailed blue and gold cape was distracted from his conversation by a noise. "Attend." He spoke the one word in a commanding tone as he saw the young man in the main hall begin a simple attack sequence.

All in the room left what they were doing and fell into rank behind their Master as he walked towards the main hall. Some of the five men and women began to mutter spells of protection as they went while others created buffering spells that enhanced Strength or Inteligence or any number of other fighting attributes.

"How dare you," Raes' voice was low and menacing as her amulet flashed to life. 'How dare he steal her dance? How dare he attack her in a Church!' She reached out as if grabbing for him and grabbed thin air like it was as solid as a steel bar, just as Myrdden had taught her. While the Sister she had been speaking with backed away from her, Rae spun herself in a Pirouette, focusing her attention upon the man. Half way through the move she inverted her hand as she stepped in front of it and raised it above her head.

Immediately there was a flash of light from the rafters that struck the man who had begun to roll his body as if he were going to perform a spin as well. His steps were exaggerated, as were all his motions making his attack seem slow and clumsy. Half way through his maneuver he seemed to stall as Raes' first spell hit him. He was suddenly dazed and almost motionless as the Flash of light from the rafters hit him. It lifted him off his feet and threw him far down the hall. He finally stopped sliding only because his head hit the carpeted stairs with a dull thud.

Rae automatically took the step that led to the next move of her dance when she was suddenly unable to move at all. She was surrounded and held in place by golden chains of light. She couldn't even perform her warding motion. She could only breathe, and move her head.

Two priests, one on either side of the hall, were watching her intently. One seemed to hold a thin golden thread attached to the chains about Rae while the other moved cautiously towards the man on the floor. The Sister that had greeted Rae was nowhere to be seen.

The Knight, his very presence in the hall commanding the attention of those around him, walked out from the row of pillars into the main isle. The phalanx of men and women behind him broke ranks to spread out. Some appeared to be in defensive stances while others were obviously ready to attack. After looking at the man on the floor, and seeming to measure the distance between Rae and the place where the man had stood when he was hit, he began walking towards her. "Well now, since when do we train in the main Hall? And why did you feel it necessary to attack my son, Lady Paladin?"

"I don't care whose son he is, he was performing MY hand motions from MY dance. I have only performed it once since I arrived so I want to know how he knows them." Rae was slightly confused by the chains that held her, but still very angry as she locked stares with the man, "And why is everyone calling me that?"

The Knight seemed to contemplate Raes' words for a moment before he responded. "A … Paladin? Because you obviously are." He smiled as he began to believe here was a raw and untainted talent. "Who has trained you?"

Rae took a deep breath preparing to answer this pompous man when her eyes rose up to the Stained Window directly behind him. It was him … or someone just like him. Suddenly her world seemed to come unhinged as her Amulet pulsed before darkening again and she remembered something her father had said when she was very, very young. 'Rae, you must always remember, a Paladin never looses her temper.' … a Paladin … he knew.

"Who knew, what?" The man was measuring her as he watched her eyes refocus upon him.

Rae had not realized she had spoken. Her anger had drained away from her as she remembered her father's words, now she fought to refocus her thoughts. The Knight before her seemed to be transformed into a kinder man rather than the adversary she had seen before. His deep blue eyes held no anger at all, just concern and peace.

"My father. He told me once 'A Paladin never looses her temper.' How did he know? How could he know? There has not been a Paladin in Lakeshire, … in the whole world for that matter, in ages. Not since my Great, Great-Grandmother died." Fear began to build in Rae now and she started to fight the golden chains. Her moods had always been quick to change. The other children in her school took advantage of this until her fathers' death when she began to be privately tutored by Myrdden.

At the other end of the hall, the man who had attacked Rae moaned as he regained consciousness. The Priest near him helped him to his feet while yet another from the raised dais used hand motions unfamiliar to Rae until the man was surrounded by a warm ring of blue light. The effect was immediate as the man straightened and searched for … his eyes showed the resignation he must have felt when he saw his father facing the woman who had bested him in one move.

"May as well face the music," he muttered as he squared his shoulders and started forward. "Father, it was my fault. This woman had entered and was apparently arguing with the Greeter on duty. So I thought a quick lesson in manners was needed." A Priest held the disorganized sheave of papers he had dropped until he took them from him.

The Knight closed his eyes as he continued to smile. In that one unguarded moment, he shared with Rae a love she had forgotten could exist. When he opened his eyes again, he continued to look at Rae, which was a bit unnerving since his gaze was so piercing. "It would seem, my son, that in forgetting to protect yourself before attacking, she taught you a lesson." The blond haired man who was rubbing his neck nodded to his father in recognition of the reprimand.

A sound of running footsteps could be heard coming through the entryway as the Knight continued, "Class, I wish you to meet my new Apprentice, Lady …" He paused to allow Rae to introduce herself.

"Forgive me, Lady Sayberry," Myrdden was breathless as he rushed in from the foyer. He must have taken the mountain of steps into the Cathedral at a run to be so out of breath, "My delay, seems to have … caused some, concern." "Lord Shadowsbane, if you would allow me … to explain." Myrdden tried to continue but stopped as the Knight held up his hand, silencing him.

"Lady Sayberry," Lord Grayson Shadowsbane drew himself up and performed a formal bow to Rae, "Will you honor me by accepting me as your training Master?" With his bow, the Priest holding the golden thread let it go and it dissolved along with the chains binding her. Seeing the inner conflict reflected in her eyes he added, "I can teach you not only how to use your talents properly, but also how to control the intensities of your emotions."

Her eyes widened, 'How did he know? This man can see right into my soul. And he genuinely believes what he says.' Now his eyes held an intensity of challenge that pricked at her pride. Rae nodded as she spoke. "Even if that is all you can do for me, it will be worth more than I can repay."

"Well said, Paladin." Lord Grayson began to move the group into the Sunset Wing. "We shall continue this conversation in here."

Myrdden spoke as they walked, "Lady Sayberry is not from here, my lord. Or maybe more properly said, she cannot remember where she is from. While many things here are familiar to her it seems that, until a little more than a week ago, she has had no experiences with the Light or any magics of any kind. I administered the Test of the Light to her in Lakeshire and determined to bring her here once I was certain of the results."

"For someone unfamiliar with the Light, she has an excellent grasp of how to throw it." The younger man spoke quietly and with chagrin but not rancor. Some of the others who had fallen in behind their master chuckled and slapped the young man good naturedly on the back.

Lord Grayson chose a table near the back of the hall and his son actually held the chair for Rae until she was settled. "Greyson, my name is Greyson. I am the third of my linage."

"Lord Grayson Shadowsbane," Rae said as she looked at him. When he nodded she then looked at his son who had taken the seat to his fathers' right, "And Lord Greyson Shadowbreaker." Rae smiled, "My name is Sayberry Rae Gordon. You all may call me Rae."

"Rae, my sons' title and achievement have yet to be earned. Then it will be the King himself who will name him." Lord Grayson looked around the table as those still gathered there tried to hide their laughter. "I believe you all were interrupted in your lessons?" Immediately the trainers and trainees scattered about the room to continue their interrupted studies.

"Lady Rae, these are Ladies Sonja Summerset and Annaralia Evrhiana who I personally train, and you have already met my son." Lady Sonja, who wore a simple leather jerkin and well tanned pants, moved to stand behind Rae. "Lady Sonja is learning the Healing Arts, while Anna and Grey are both learning the Retribution Arts."

A tall, thin Human woman with Auburn hair and wearing chain mail over her shirt stepped up when Lord Grayson spoke her name. She grasped her hands in front of her as she performed a curtsey to Rae then sat to his left as Lord Shadowsbane gestured to it. "As you can see, Annaralia has received the bulk of her training at the Temple of the Moon in Darnassus and is here to fill in where we are able to help her."

Rae looked confused for a moment, "I know nothing of Darnassus, Your Grace."

"Another mystery, my lord," Myrdden inserted himself into the conversation. He was in full teacher mode now that he had caught his breath. "She has memories of teachings and experiences she believes we have shared, but I have no knowledge of her before I was called to her aid two weeks ago. She was found unconscious near the main road through Lakeshire leading into the Redridge Mountains, up by their new Lumber Mill."

"I should like to discuss your tutelage with your last trainer. I would particularly like to hear why he never told you about the Paladins here in Stormwind. Is he or she near?"

"All I know, I learned from my father, who is dead, and Myrdden. He taught me the order of the motions as I created my dance. Then, as we traveled from Lakeshire to here these past few days, he taught me how to use these gestures and words in this land. I assure you, until this trip, none of my dance moves produced any such effects as they do now."

Lord Grayson looked at her searchingly for a moment before he nodded and continued, "What happened two weeks ago?"

"I was at a dig site led by Bron Ironbrand in the upper mountain regions of Northrend when he found evidence of a Guild Home and I found this locket in the same moment." Rae pulled the locket by its chain from her shirt. "When I opened the locket, I remember getting dizzy. Then I woke up here … in Lakeshire I mean … but it is not the Lakeshire I know … and even Myrdden, whom I have known all my life, seems to be a stranger towards me."

"May I examine the locket?"

Rae removed the locket and its chain from around her neck and handed it to Lord Grayson Shadowsbane. "It is very old."

"Yes, I see that, the metalwork is exquisite." He opened the locket. In it were two pictures. One was of a woman with white hair who so resembled Rae that it must be her Great, great-grandmother. The other was of a man, but was so damaged that the person was not recognizable. The only feature that could be clearly discerned was one Elvin ear. "There is a lodestone at its heart it seems. To my knowledge, they can only be attuned to one person."

Myrdden interrupted, "It is not a Lodestone, Lord Grayson. It does not resonate as a one should. In fact, it defies my ability to divine its origin. It is because of that locket and an event upon her awakening in Lakeshire that I determined to administer the Test of the Light. She succeeded at every task … with her eyes closed."

"Who was expecting me?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Excuse me?" Lord Grayson was perplexed.

"Who was expecting me?" Rae had been thinking on the events in the main hall and remembered her conversation with the Sister there. "That woman at the door said she was told to expect me. Where is she so we may find out who expected me?"

An innocent looking hand motion made by Lord Grayson seemed to dismiss the thought, "It is a standard greeting to the Acolytes to help them feel more comfortable when they arrive." As he spoke, lady Sonja nodded and quietly left.

Lord Grayson continued his examination of the casing. "There are not many Silversmiths that can perform this level of work. But this blemish on this one leaf," Lord Grayson fingered the blemish, "most likely is the mark of the artisan who created it. You say you found this in Northshire? Maybe the Abbot of Northshire ..."

"Northrend." Rae interrupted.

Rae became aware of stillness about her. When she looked up from the locket which Lord Grayson was still examining, he was staring intently at her. "There is nothing but frozen wastes and death in Northrend. Our most learned Mages do not even believe it possible to live there much less build a society upon the ice." Lord Graysons' gaze held her eyes … but Rae felt he did not believe what he was saying.

"You are mistaken." Raes' desire to be simply truthful won out over her wish to keep quiet. "There were great battles fought there in ages past. Legend has it that when Dal'Aran fell to the Horde, the greatest of the Mystics, and his protégés wove spells around the ruins until the entire city repaired itself and then flew off to float in the skies above the Singing Crystal Forests. Something about doing this also killed Archmage Antonidas, so legend says." Rae did not notice how Myrddens' eyes widened at the mention of Antonidas name. "Then the King of Northrend took offense and declared war upon the rest of Azeroth. Those were the great battles I spoke of."

"Dalaran", Lord Grayson stressed the pronunciation of the name, "is a vibrant city of Mages that is true. It is located on the shores of Lordamere Lake opposite the Capital city of Lordaeron in Alterac. Also, I do not recall our Kingdom conquering the whole of the East, yet you speak of Azeroth as if it is a whole continent or a World. It is only this Kingdom, of which Stormwind is its Capital City and you are sitting in one of its most central buildings."

Rae shook her head slowly as she responded, "I do not lie." Her eyes never left Lord Graysons, her anger had been rekindled and the Amulet began to glow softly as it lay in his open hands. "All I can tell you is what I know." Raes voice lowered slightly as she continued to speak making her sound much older than she appeared. "The Hordes first overran the Kingdom of Azeroth. Then came the fall of Lorderon, after the Lich King killed the rightful ruler and gave it to the Horde who renamed it Undercity. After many years, it too was destroyed. No one knows how, some say there was civil war and it was destroyed from within, others argue it was destroyed by giants released from a more ancient time.

"Whatever happened there, Lordaeron is nothing more than a dead and stinking hole in the ground full of toxic wastes and old bones. Many where I come from do not even believe Dal'Aran existed much less fell and was reborn as a floating city. But they know of Lordaeron and Undercity because they have the hole to look into." Rae blinked as she came out of the mnemonic trance her didactic memory could induce and the Amulet dulled into sleep again.

One of the trainees was pointing at the Amulet as he slowly walked towards the table, "Did you see that?"

"There were no emanations of power." A man who was now standing behind Rae spoke. He was dressed in a simple robe and holding his hands at about the height and width of his shoulders.

"I remember being distracted a moment by a glow from her .. um .. chest, as I attacked. A very timely distraction, for her," Greyson quietly added.

"They are linked, one to the other." Myrdden spoke in a knowing tone.

"We shall sort this out later." Lord Grayson returned the amulet to Rae.

"Right now I would like Annaralia to escort Lady Sayberry to the Womans' Barracks and help her to get organized." "If you need anything, Annaralia here will be at your service until morning."

"Come," Annaralia smiled at Rae who rose from the table with the courteous help of the man who had been attracted by the Amulets' glow. Anna led her to the bookcase at the back of the Sunrise Wing. The bookcase swung outward when she ran her hand lightly along the molding revealing a well lit hallway beyond. As they walked the length of the hallway, Rae saw that the openings on both sides and at regular intervals were dorm rooms where men and women relaxed or studied. They entered into the middle door on the North wall. "The next room," Annaralia explained, "is where you will begin your training in the morning."

Greyson the Younger whispered as the bookcase swung quietly closed, "By the Light father, they are mirror images of each other."

"Yes, I noticed that too. Now … Yes Lady Sonja?"

Lady Sonja, who had left earlier, had returned but kept silent until now. "There is no Greeter on duty today. The Brother in charge of the Hospitality Roster personally took the scheduled Greeter into the Sunset wing only minutes before our new sister arrived. He had become suddenly faint and they were still there with the First Aid Trainers when the altercation began."

"The Lady Sayberry seems surrounded by portentous happenings." Myrdden murmured. He was sitting back in the tall backed chair with his eyes closed, considering this new coincidence. He then leaned forward resting his forearms upon the table before relating some of the events on their trip to Stormwind. He chose not to show them what Rae taught Myrdden about his brand of devotion. That was something for his own order to discuss. He lightly glossed over most of the other events of their trip.

"I have one question then," Greyson the Younger had grown more and more serious as the discussion progressed. "If portent follows her so closely, then what Shadow do I break?"

* * *

Rae had not been very happy at the Cathedral, at her Cathedral that is. Learning the ways of the Priests did nothing more than irritate her. She wanted to have some fun, she wanted to know something or do something no one else had. She didn't just want to push the envelope; she wanted to redefine where its edges were. But the Priests were more concerned with what they were not allowed to do. And, while helping others was satisfying, it was also irritating when the ones you served thought that as an acolyte you were only doing what you should.

Now she was here again. Only in this Cathedral, things were so much different.

The concept of serving the Light directly intrigued Rae. To serve something so all-encompassing that you could learn how to use it seemed fascinating to her. She was also wary about it. She knew enough about life to know that to make the Light serve her, she would have to learn how to serve the Light.

Early the next morning, Rae was awakened by Annaralia who told her she was already late and to dress quickly for morning exercises. Not knowing what to expect, Rae dressed in the Festival Suit Sharra let her keep and entered the training room where the others seemed to be waiting for her. Lord Grayson stood at one end with Annaralia on one side and his son on the other.

Everyone else had taken up positions in a grid pattern on the thin mat that covered the middle of the room and about two arm lengths apart from each other. Rae was the only one not wearing any armor.

Annaralia leaned towards Lord Grayson and nodded towards Rae. Then, after a short comment from Greyson the Younger, she bowed to the class and walked towards Rae as Lord Grayson began what sounded like morning prayers.

Annaralia took her arm firmly and turned her towards the entryway. "Why are you not wearing your training accoutrements?" she hissed. The warm and friendly woman from last night was gone this morning. Her look was tempered with steel as she led Rae back out of the training room.

"What are acc ..." Rae was cut off.

"WHERE IS YOUR ARMOR!"

Rae returned Annaralias' steely gaze and responded in a soft, controlled voice. "I have none."

"EVERY NEW APPRENTICE IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THEIR OWN ARMOR WHEN THEY BEGIN INSTRUCTION!" Annaralia raised her fist slightly, "You should know this…"

Rae glanced at the fist, "Try it." She barely spoke the words as her anger colored her face to match her hair.

Annaralia seemed to think about it for a moment and then lowered her fist. "What about your family, surely they can provide …." She stopped as she saw the tear form in Raes' eye.

"I have none."

Annaralia instantly regretted loosing her temper, "None? None at all?"

Rae slowly shook her head at each question, "Not in this life, nor the one I seem to have lost. No one," she whispered, her voice barely held up by the breath she exhaled.

Annaralia wrapped her arms around Rae and hugged her, "Then we shall be your family." This was the moment in which their friendship truly began. Anna vowed to herself to never again believe she was the only one to have lived through loss and hardship as Rae cried, really cried, for the first time since her dad died.

"Come. We shall find you something."

The rest of that morning was used roaming the streets of Stormwind … shopping. Their first stop was in the Dwarven Quarter where Rae found some used armor a Dwaf named Grimand Elmore said he was ashamed to have hanging around in his shop. He only had it, he explained, because a son of a family friend had been through recently and had purchased new armor.

Anna told the Dwarf it would serve Rae fine for now and then fell to arguing the price until a deal was struck. The Dwarf glanced at Rae several times during the conversation until she stepped a little further away from them. Anna gave the Dwarf some money and said they would come back after it later.

Anna then led the way to the Old Town section of Stormwind. She told Rae in answer to her questions that the Dwarves needed to size it better for her, and replace the padded lining, "And no, we do not need to stay there while it is done. The Dwarves are Masters at hammering metal and would consider it an insult if we hovered around waiting for it."

They shopped several other businesses, including a shop where womens' garments were sold. Rae liked that shop the most for she and Anna had a lot of fun trying on a few 'special' items and munching on the little snacks the owner brought out for them.

Then it was time to return for the armor. Anna accepted the package, thanked the Dwarf as she handed it to Rae, and began to walk off when Rae noticed she had no packages in her arms while Rae was barely able to hold the ones she was carrying. When Rae asked her about this, Anna stopped and stared at Rae as if she had grown a second head. "You really don't know, do you." And off they went to the Bank.

Rae set her things down on a table in the Bank then fell onto the bench nearby as Anna went to the teller and shortly after returned with two bags and a sack. "These are for you. I don't use them any longer so don't you dare think you have to repay me for these. The armor is a different matter, and I would appreciate it if you remembered that when you have some money of your own."

Anna set each bag on the table and helped Rae get her things organized into the various pockets. Then she instructed Rae on how to 'hide' the bags using her Hearthstone.

Rae was shocked when the first one disappeared and just as relieved when Anna showed her how to retrieve it. Everything she had bought today was in her bags now, including the package with the armor in it, and totally weightless while hidden.

Then they went to the Park where Anna borrowed two sturdy sticks from the Druids there and showed Rae several moves she needed to know in order to attack an assailant with a sword or an axe, and others for defense from those same weapons. The moves were much like ones Rae had used in her Dance, but also different, more cumbersome to Rae. She decided it was because this was real fighting and not dancing so she did her best to learn the new patterns.

They practiced far longer than Rae thought they had when Anna called a stop. She told Rae to wait at what she called a Moonwell. Rae considered it a swimming pool and promptly dove in. The Druids dressed in robes and standing near the well looked at her when she came back to the surface but only sighed deeply and went on with their interrupted discussions.

When Anna returned she had bought them both dinners from the Tavern nearby. She explained that since they had been so long in the park before returning to the Cathedral, they had missed the dinner hour. They ate on the edge of the pool before returning to the Cathedral.

Most of that evening was taken up with Rae learning how to wear the armor they bought that day. When Rae first opened the package, she thought they had been given the wrong item. But Anna checked and then showed Rae where her name had been inscribed onto each piece. This armor was beautiful. All along the inside of each piece was a thin web of a silvery metal. And the outside, while lacking much for decoration, had been buffed to a mirror finish.

"But," Anna began, "you don't have a weapon yet. We will need to go to Lord Grayson to find you a weapon suitable for your training."

"Her training is why A'm here." The Training Master stood in the doorway. "Please to come to the Training Room, both a yee."

Rae tried to mirror Annas' curtsey as they entered the Training Room, but felt clumsy at it.

"Since yee both missed ta Morning Training, Ah expect yee ta be twice better now."

"Excuse me," Rae interrupted. "What training?"

"Todays', a course. Now,"

"But if we were not there, how are we to know what the lesson was?"

The Master took a deep breath, "Sayberry it is?"

"Rae, please."

He nodded, "Miss Rae, Mah name is Delven Longhammer, Ah'm the Training Master here, and ye have interrupted me twice now. You'll nae do it again." He tilted his head to emphasize his statement. Then, squaring his shoulders, "Have ye learned yer first Cata yet?" "No?" He looked at Annaralia who nodded, "Yae." He smiled. "Show me."

Rae was a pattern learner. So when Anna picked up two wooden practice poles from the nearer door rack and handed one to Rae, she knew from the stance Anna took what they were going to do next. Rae felt Anna was going too slowly, maybe to compensate for Rae only having learned it that afternoon, so she began to hum a beat that picked up the pace slightly.

"STOP! Again, wit-out da hummin."

Rae faced Anna from across the mats. "At speed then, ok?"

"Are you sure?"

For answer, Rae set herself to the first position. "As they say where I come from, En'Guarde."

It took almost no time at all for them to finish the movement.

"Perfect." Delven, was impressed. "Your last trainer drilled you well."

Rae curtseyed to Anna. "Yes, the Lady Annaralia is a good teacher."

"I meant ye Trainer last, Miss Rae."

"So did I."

"Miss Rae, you could not have learned that series of Cata to perfection in one afternoon."

Rae settled onto her leading foot and allowed her left leg to seem to dangle behind her, "It is a simple sequence, although a bit clumsy I admit. Try teaching me something more complicated and then we will see how long it takes me to learn it."

Delven looked over to the open doorway where some of the other trainees had gasped at Raes' response. "Very well, Miss Rae, I accept your challenge. This Cata ye shall learn for tomorrow morning." It took Delven ten minutes to go through the Cata in the exaggerated movements he used to teach new techniques. "Did ye get all that?"

Rae had her eyes closed now replaying the movements in her minds' eye. She counted five separations in the total Cata which she decided must be where five Catas had been joined into this one movement. A moment later she opened her eyes and responded. "Wouldn't the whole Cata flow better if you pirouetted on your left leg after the third jump? And then …"

"If ye can nay perform the Cata as shown …"

"Show us." Lord Shadowsbane stood in the doorway. Most of the Cadets, having heard Rae was being examined, were now also around the door which is why Lord Grayson had come quietly up the hall. He now walked forward into the room as an isle was opened for him.

"Lord Shadowsbane, she has only just seen the . ." Annaralia began but was stopped by Lord Graysons' look.

"If she must boast, then she must perform to her own boasts. Pride, unearned and unhumbled, is a sin."

Rae set herself in the center of the room and struck the beginning position. After counting to herself to five, she began. After the third jump, the end of the first movement, she landed on her left leg instead of her right as she had suggested to Delven, and was immediately able to spin to the next movement. She performed the same kind of changeover three more times during the Cata, rebalancing the count for the fifth and final movement which ended with her planting both feet instead of landing on one, and bowing as she faced Lord Grayson.

Anna, her eyes dancing with merriment, stood to the right of Lord Grayson while Delven stood to his other side. "Well done, Lady Sayberry." Lord Grayson nodded at Annaralia, "You will see to it that she completes her novice training in the evenings." She bowed in response. "And you, my old friend" Lord Grayson turned towards Delven as he placed his hand on the others shoulder, "will continue to drill her in the advanced techniques each day."

The Training Master hiked his service belt as he responded, "Aye, that I shall."

"But not tomorrow morning. Annaralia, after morning vespers you will take her to the Armory to see if there is a weapon there that resonates to her. Consider it a test of your ability to read a Paladins' Aura." Lord Grayson turned and left the room. He was halfway down the hall and quite alone before his face lit with a smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Sarafeena arrived at Lakeshire with mixed feelings, and a young girl asleep astride Pandorii. She had led the group while on the road, but while they were camped Mildred was the leader, and her teacher. Her time on the road with the family had given her a glimpse into the joys, and the pains, of being a part of a family.

Her regular pattern had been to break camp as early as possible. She would summon and send out one of her hunting friends to scout the path ahead, and then lead the drive through the day until about an hour before sundown when she would find a defendable area to hole up until morning when they would do it all over again. Hard tack and jerky was the meal of the day while the evening meal was usually whatever she and her team mate had caught in the afternoon hours. The family was not always quiet, which made Sara very nervous in some areas … like when they had to cross through Blackrock Mountain.

This last day on the road they spent pushing ever forward until finally they came through the pass from the Burning Steppes as the sun had set. Only the nearness of their goal kept them going after sundown.

There was a furious fight at the gates between her and the fire imps that played there. Malonii, her fiercest pet, finally drew the imps off to one side of the gap which allowed Milly to rush the wagon through the gates. Sara then called Malonii free of the battle and supported his retreat with her archery skills. Once they made it through the gates the remaining Imps grew cold and gave up the chase.

Now they were swarmed by the inhabitants of Lakeshire … some of them getting out of their beds to see what the commotion was all about. The ladies at the Inn were busy hustling everyone inside, the children especially. She had just started settling one of the children with a bowl of some stew and sweetbreads when Sara heard her name called in the lilting song-like language of the Quel'dorei.

It had been almost twenty years since she had heard her native tongue so her first impulse was to look about before realizing her eyes would never find her kin. She closed her eyes to link with the mind that sought her. Joy overcame her as she touched her Aunts' thoughts. Yes, she would come shortly. Yes, she could see the way. Her charges had to be settled first. 'Tend to your duty love, we knew of your coming and rejoice at your safe arrival.'

'You knew of my coming?' A hand gently placed on her forearm caused her to break the connection. Sara opened her eyes to the Innkeeper introducing her to the village Elder. She handed over the documents she carried for him. He read the note and thanked Sara profusely, actually grabbing her shoulders and shaking her in his excitement, before he went over to Mildred and surprised her with a hug. It seems these were his sister-in-law and the cousins who were born after his brother left to stake out his piece of the world ten years ago.

Then she brought the wagon to the Smithy. After he read the sealed letter that went with the ores and metals still in the bottom of the wagon, he handed her a small coin purse. "This is for you, in payment for your services. According to this letter, the rest of the fee for this shipment is to go to the family you brought here. Light be with you."

Sara was awestruck at this. But since the Smithy had adroitly guided her to the outside door, and then closed and barred it for the night while she was still staring at the gold coins, she knew she had no reason linger.

She closed her eyes again and recalled the way to take from her link with her Aunt, then followed the path up to Sharra and Loo's home. Loo met her at the fence gate and greeted her in the stiff traditional manner.

Then Sharra came out of the house to stand on the porch. She wore the long gowns of her Temple office as she waved her hand over the table, brushing away the concealment spell to reveal the platter of breads and the cups of wines which was the Meal of Welcome. The three ate a bite each of the stale bread to mark the time they had been apart. With this they drank the bitter wine from the Glass of Mourning for those who had passed since their last meeting. The stem of this Glass was a dragon on a pedestal. Its wings were furled upon its back while it held the round glass globe clutched in its extended arms. This glass was only partially filled with the dry red wine. The black dragon's body was the stem.

Then they broke the still warm Bread of Welcome to honor the end of the journey. They finished by passing around and sharing the sweet new wine from the Cup of Friendship, renewing their commitments to each other and their household. The stem of this cup was obviously a Green Dragon which sat straight up upon its pedestal. Its wings were raised over its head and held a tall glass globe that in turn held a sweet white wine.

Sharra gave the formal liturgy that followed the sipping of the Cup of Friendship, ending the ritual. Then before anyone else had a chance to move, Sharra gracefully ignored the little bit of bread still in her fingers and hugged Sara so tightly that she actually squeaked in surprise. The formalities concluded, Loo also had a hug for his favorite cousin.

Sharra then laid aside her ceremonial robes, which Loo took inside as the ladies settled themselves on the porch. Loo returned with a platter of vegetables, cheeses and meats which he set out then filled some bowls with a rich soup as Sharra divided the rest of the Bread of Welcome which was always fully eaten. They told their stories and sang songs unheard before in Lakeshire until long past sunrise. Before they went to bed they performed the last action of the traditional greeting by burying the stale bread and pouring the bitter wine over the spot.

* * *

Rae and Anna met at the training room for morning vespers. Both wore their armor just as if they were going to practice with the rest of the class. However, after vespers, they were excused for the express purpose of finding a weapon for Rae.

Down into the very bowels of Stormwind they went by stairways known only to the Paladins in the service of the Knights of the Silver Hand, until they were so far below the city that the rumblings of the Tram were no longer even a faint echo. The way was not musty nor was it dark for these halls were traveled regularly by the messengers of the King as they spread his edicts to the far corners of the kingdom.

"This tunnel," Anna told Rae, "connects directly with the catacombs under the Throneroom itself. And this tunnel," she pointed to the next one of the six that joined in this one room, "leads out of the city to a hidden vale near Moonbrook, where the Deadmines are."

"How do they keep their way in these tunnels?"

For answer Anna pointed up. Above the archway that was the opening of each tunnel was a placard. The scribing on the placards meant nothing to Rae, but she could see that above each was a different symbol.

Finally they reached a room where Anna produced a key to unlock the door. When she fit the key to the lock she paused as the magics recognized each other then turned the key and opened the door. She spoke a word in a quiet, commanding voice and every torch in the room lit.

Rae started at the suddenness of the response from the spoken word. "It is one of the seven words of power a Paladin is taught as they rise among the ranks here in the Cathedral. I know of only one other at this time. Since this word is taught upon being accepted into the order, I see no reason to keep it hidden from you. It is from the oldest tongue spoken on our world, Darnassian. First spoken by the Keldorei which means Children of the Stars. Only the Stars were formed before the Elven race."

Rae walked through the room looking upon various weapons of different designs. Some seemed to glow on their own in differing colors and ways, others were just laying there.

How could she choose? She turned to Anna for help.

"Don't look at me, look into your heart, your soul. YOU know what weapon best suits you."

"I have never been taught to fight."

"Girl, I saw what you did to little Greyson … Don't even think of telling me you cannot fight. I may share the head of the class with him, but even I have not laid him out cold as you did."

Rae turned uncertainly back to face the items in the room and raised her hand, palm towards the weapons, as she turned slowly around. No, not on the table … and not on the walls … She closed her eyes as she turned her head too and fro … something lay hidden. She felt she was so close to it, but … She had an idea. "Chronikon" she whispered, using almost no breath at all, the call for Purification. She did not know how she knew this word would reveal hidden magics, but she knew.

On the far side of the room something awoke and burned fiercely red with hatred. Rae moved close enough to touch it. Immediately it seemed to spring at her in her mind … to attack her. She steeled herself, not to take a blow, but to give one. "Anar'alah Chronikon" She spoke the words with force and with conviction calling forth the Light of Purification.

The weapon quailed within her grasp, losing some of its glare. While it allowed her to pick it up, it was not yet subservient. Once again it tried to force its will upon hers. This time, the amulet around her neck awoke.

Rae wrestled with the spirit of the pike, never once doubting that this weapon would serve her. She spoke soothing words of life and of purity of purpose. Then she spoke of virtues and how practicing those virtues created honor in the one who practiced them. Then the Kor Gem that was set at the base of the blade began to change and to accept Rae as its master. As the gem changed, the Ranseur changed. Its red aura of hatred and lust for death changed to a warm yellow glow that enhanced Raes' strength and agility. She did not feel she had totally convinced it, but she knew it would serve her until either she did, or she died.

Next to the Ranseur, another weapon began to resonate. The Warblade begged to be picked up. It could not continue to exist here in this dark place, alone, without the Ranseur to keep it company. Rae picked up this weapon also. Together the two weapons communed about their new host, and decided they would serve her, until another more worthy claimed them. The Ranseur seemed to have a deep resonance to its 'voice' even though it did not talk directly to Rae, so she did not actually hear it speak. The Warblade communicated in quick words Rae could almost hear. As the yellow glow from the Ranseur became shared by the Sin'dorei Warblade, the words of the Warblade became more distinct, and the amulet became quiet and dark again.

"Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it in a thousand years." Anna spoke in awe as Rae turned to face her. The two weapons had been thrown into a corner and covered by cobwebs and dust a half inch thick. As they came to life and accepted her as their mistress, the dust and grime broke away revealing the etchings that decorated each blade. Now they reveled in the freedom they would know serving their new mistress.

Rae instinctively reached behind her with the Warblade and it grabbed hold of something built into the armor she wore. As she released it, she knew it would hang there, in that exact spot, always available for her to use whenever she needed it. Then she clasped onto the Polearm with both hands and it sprang to life once again, this time with the flame of a Purified Kor Gem. As she planted it upon the floor she whispered the call for Consecration. Rae felt the entire room filled with the effects of the spell. She felt lighter in some ways and stronger in others.

For a moment, Anna saw before her a warrior equal even in her estimation to Lord Grayson Shadowsbane. Then the channels of light that were the evidence of the Consecration spell dimmed out and once again Rae was in the room, smiling and giggling and twirling with her new Polearm and happy to have such a wonderful friend as Anna, and two beautiful new weapons.

Rae spoke almost constantly of the battle in her mind as they wound their way back up to the Paladins wing. Anna was mostly quiet, not as much because she was listening intently, but from concern for her friend. What would Delven Longhammer have to say about a Paladin training as a Knight of the Silver Hand with these weapons of their sworn enemies?

* * *

"NO!" Delven slammed his fist upon the stout table between himself and Lord Grayson as the word exploded from him.

Lord Grayson saw it coming from the look in Delvens' eyes as he entered the tavern and snatched up his goblet of wine just before the strike. "Please, my old friend, sit and tell me what troubles you." The mischief that danced in Lord Graysons' eyes as he said this reminded Delven of another time, in another tavern, and had exactly the effect Lord Grayson intended.

"She canna use a Blood-Tempered Renseur! Nay even a Sin'dorai Warblade! Fel-weapons they are, of a fallen order of Paladins! She shoulda na'er seen um! Why was she brought to the arm'ry and not pro'per arms shown her! I tell ye, miss Annaralia has failed the test, and led miss Rae to her ruin too!" Delven's accent was heavy when he was especially angry, as now.

Lord Grayson motioned to the tavern boy who came over with a mug of Dwarven Mead.

Delven threw his arms up into the air as he dropped heavily into the chair, "By the LIGHT Grey, this can na hap'n!" Lord Grayson placed his finger over his lips, pointed at the mug, and then raised two fingers. Delven began to chuckle from deep in his middle. "Alright then, two mugs before ye speak. Here's the first then. To the King!" He raised his mug and then drained its contents in one long pull. "Now, where's me second so we can get ta tha talkin'."

Lord Grayson turned to the servant boy who had been keeping his eyes on this one table, and made a sign that caused the boy to smile before he disappeared into the main kitchen. A moment later, a lady servant approached the table with four mugs, two in each hand. "Nay Grayson, ye said only two mugs before ye'd speak." Just as she got to the table, the boy stepped out from behind her and was barely able to lift and place a mug almost the size of a keg itself on the table in front of the Dwarf. As the woman began to pour each of her mugs into the larger one, Delven began to laugh in earnest.

"Ye got me Gray, ye got me. Very well then, but nay think even a mug this size is gonna turn me from talking ye outta training miss Rae with those … things."

Lord Grayson nodded and pointed.

"Aye, it's a good thing it has two handles then." He stood next to the mug, grabbed both handles and raised it as high as he could in salute, "To Uther, the Lightbringer", he roared. Every Paladin in the hall stood and joined in the toast. "To Uther!" they yelled as one.

Tradition required that every drop be drunk from the mug in one pull or the mug be smashed. So it was that everyone in the hall was soon focused on Delven as he drank. As he neared the half way point he rolled the mug, spilling very little of the brew, so he could hold it with one hand and use the other to direct the chorus of Paladins chanting "DRINK, DRINK, DRINK" which got many laughs.

The Tavern keeper came out from behind the bar. He was very concerned for his largest mug since it was very expensive to replace. Delven finished the draft and held the mug upside down to prove it, as the Tavern keeper lept forward to rescue the mug, and many in the hall passed gold pieces to pay lost wagers. The lady servant placed four more normal sized mugs on the table, two at each end.

"Now, my friend," Lord Grayson leaned forward, his eyes filled with purpose, "let's talk."

That evening, Delven spoke softly as he instructed Rae on how to defend and attack with a Polearm. He required her to used a broomstick, which saddened her and her new Renseur.


	12. Chapter 12

It was Sunday, a rest day for everyone except those who had drawn the duty or were on discipline. Rae had been training now for several weeks and had begun to feel as if something was wrong with the training. Of course, she had no idea what. But in her gut, she knew.

Like every Sunday since her arrival, she assembled with the other Paladins for morning vespers and then marched smartly into the Cathedral. Her armor shined from the polishing they all did on Saturday evenings. Unlike every Sunday before, she only stood her post for a few minutes before she stepped back, turned, and retraced her steps back into the Sunset Wing. The other Paladins spreading out to fill in the opening her absence created.

Lord Grayson walked behind the rank of Paladins as the Choir began to sing and the Paladins sang the responses. Brightly they shone in the sunlight that was filtered into various colors by the windows high above. When he reached the area where Rae should be he stopped and examined the rank a moment before looking across the hall to where Delven stood opposite him.

Annaralia stepped out of line and looked purposefully at Lord Grayson who nodded to her. She then strode towards the Sunset Wing to find Rae and account for her absence. Greyson the younger fell into step next to her.

As they slowly walked through the Paladin Barracks Anna chose to remind Greyson of the conversation they had just two night ago, "Remember, it is more important to see what she is doing, than to confront her about it."

Greyson nodded and stepped a little quieter. His father had called a meeting of the senior Paladins to review the ranks for possible promotions. While everyone had been adamant that the lady Sayberry had certainly worked hard enough, she had only been in the service five months. Delven then brought up her rebellious attitude to which they all came to her defense. It was decided that she was not rebellious as much as she was driven by a need that drove her to perfect her talents. Was it her solitary upbringing that caused her to interrupt so often? Always she seemed to be the cause of some … A noise ahead caused Greyson to reign in his thoughts.

They were in the catacombs now. Not so deep that they could not hear the choir in the Cathedral above them, but deep enough to not hear the single voice of the Arch-Bishop leading the faithful this morning. They clearly heard Rae gasp with pleasure as they heard the great organ start the Battle Hymn that was always her favorite.

Slowly Anna knelt as Greyson stood over her and they peeked around the corner into the room where the sound had come from. Inside, Rae had taken a battle stance. She had stripped off her armor but not her padding garments and held practice weapons that she must have brought with her.

As Greyson looked about the room, he saw an armor rack filled with the wicker weapons used for practice. In the middle was a practice dummy Rae was facing. How she had gotten that down here without being seen, Greyson would have to find out. Then Raes' movements caught his attention.

Anna watched Rae as she began to move in time to the music from above. Her movements were deliberate and strong, matching the martial grandeur of the melody. BUT, her movements were not the standard ones taught by Lord Delven.

In her hands she wielded her practice Renseur. The dummy responded to the actions Rae was performing even though she never actually touched it. It swayed or rocked or seemed to lift slightly as Rae attacked, defended and countered until, as the music crescendoed in the last verse and Rae performed her last movements, the practice dummy snapped in half with the upper half sailing into the hallway.

As Rae opened her eyes, she saw Anna and Greyson staring incredulously at her from the doorway. "Oops," she whispered and looked away from them towards the broken practice dummy on the floor.

Rae was in very much that same stance later when she, Anna and Greyson faced Lord Grayson. He listened attentively as always to the account of her private practice session.

Then he called in Lord Delven who was able to confirm that while Lady Sayberry seemed gifted in her use of the Holy Arts, she was not his top candidate to drop into a melee against any enemy and expect her to win.

Once Lord Delven had been dismissed, and had closed the door behind him, Lord Grayson stared at Sayberry Rae. It was a long time before he spoke. "I believe you have been holding out on us. Maybe holding back a little? Why?"

"My lord, I have been learning as best as I am able …"

"No one is denying that, but I believe there is something in your heart that you are fighting against just by being here."

Rae took a deep breath before she seemed to deflate while she exhaled mightily. "There is a lot to unlearn before I can properly learn the steps to these dances. The cadences are so foreign, the actions and steps so … halting. I am sorry for my denseness, but to perform them with the grace my soul desires to express … to soar into the dance as an eaglet soars into the heavens on that first day after its heart has learned to fly … only angers others."

"You mean Lord Delven."

Rae nodded, then quietly, and not daring to look directly at Lord Grayson, she practically whispered, "If you wish … I will collect my things and leave."

Anna started at that statement, an action not lost on Lord Shadowsbane who looked from Rae to Anna and seemed to be considering something. When he looked at his son, he made up his mind. "I have a mission for the three of you. Meet me at the head of the Valley of Heros in one hour. Son, you are to use that hour any way you wish, but Lady Sayberry is to be mounted on her own Warsteed when I see her again. Dismissed."

* * *

It was no challenge at all to teach Rae how to summon a Warhorse. The surprise was in the mount that was summoned.

Once being taught the gestures and words, she was so excited to try it that, had it not been for the inhibition spells now layered in the main halls of the Cathedral since her battle with Greyson, she would have summoned it right then and there. Once outside she succeeded in summoning her mount for the first time. A beautiful white stallion suddenly stood in front of her.

Greyson was just as surprised as she was as he inspected the mount, "I've never seen a white stallion summoned on a first try before. Congratulations."

Raes' eyes opened wide as she recognized her new mount. "How …" It was the very stallion she had helped corral after a long restless night. Rae described how she knew this horse.

"It happens sometimes when an animal imprints on a human. You must have made quite an impression on him."

She named him Dew because of his deep blue eyes and creamy white color. The challenge now seemed to be in her learning how to UN-summon him. Finally it was decided they would work on it later as they headed off to the Valley of Heros.

* * *

Lord Shadowsbane was awaiting their arrival at the main gates to the city. He too was mounted but assured Rae when she stared that he had other matters to attend to which was why he was sending them on this mission and not going himself.

Now the three of them were mounted and in an almost straight line facing Lord Grayson at the head of the Valley of Heros, the main entrance to Stormwind. It had been five months to the day since Rae had entered Stormwind with Myrdden in search of her place in this world.

"I have received a report that the Princess Moira, the daughter of King Magni of Ironforge, is missing. She was last seen by the guards at the Searing Gorge Tunnel with Kharan Mighthammer and twenty elite guards on her way to Lakeshire. Head to Lakeshire and search for her through the Burning Steppes and Blackrock Mountain until you either meet up with a search party coming from Lock Modan or reach the Tunnel that connects that province to Searing Gorge. If you find her, escort her to the nearest Flightpoint and bring her to Lakeshire or Ironforge as she wishes. Then report back to me." He looked to each of the three to make sure his orders were understood. "One final thing, on your travels you are to continue your training."

Rae sighed heavily, "So much for the vacation."

Anna and Grey smiled at her.

"Oh, it gets better Lady Sayberry." Lord Grayson smiled as Rae straightened in her saddle and nodded her acceptance of this added bonus. "You are the teacher."

Rae's mouth slowly dropped open as this announcement sunk in, "Me? Sir?" Her voice rose so high she squeaked.

Both Grey and Anna tried not to smile at Raes reaction. They already knew what was coming from the quick moment Lord Shadowsbane had with them an hour ago.

"Yes, you. As I have said before, you cannot make boasts unearned. You have told me that you feel the 'Dance' we perform is wrong … now teach my two best students what you believe to be the right dance, or come back ready to be severely disciplined for your pride."

"But, I am no teacher."

"That is actually your lesson to learn. How to express what you know is right. I actually believe in you Lady Sayberry, don't disappoint me. All of you, do your best or do your worst, but do something the Light itself will remember on this trial. Light be with you!"

Anna and Grey both saluted smartly, "Light be with you!"

"Sayberry?"

Rae Saluted, "Light be with you … and us all."

Lord Grayson smiled, "Well said. Your students are already first in your thoughts." Lord Shadowsbane then rode his mount smartly back into the city.

* * *

Sarafeena had spent a wonderful time with her Aunt and Uncle, but she needed to move on. Something in her soul was driving her back out into the wilds. As she made her bed this night, she realized she began to feel the Gees upon her ever since Sharra told her of their rescue of the Human child and the test she herself had taken so long ago. For some reason this news made Sara's heart leap. Not being one to ignore the promptings of providence, she planned to leave at first light.

Sharra, however, loved her niece dearly and knew full well the signs of Saras' leaving. So it was that when Sara rose before first light, ready to grab her pack and leave quietly, she found no pack where she had left it. She did find Loo dutifully sitting in the chair outside her room waiting for her. "The Lady of the House commands your presence at the breakfast table. Do not be late."

Sara was a little flustered but she nodded before Loo would leave. There was nothing for it now but to have breakfast first. That meant a late start and a lot of talking. How could she refuse the demands of her Aunt after she had gladly accepted her hospitality?

When she entered the kitchen, she saw that Sharra had spent the night cooking Lemas and other foods good for traveling on the long road. Sharra was just putting the last of it into Saras' pack as Loo entered from the other door carrying freshly decanted drinks sealed for her journey as well. "Please tell me, dear heart of my sisters' love, that you were not thinking of leaving without first saying goodbye?" Sharra turned from the now full pack, "How ever would you face us again without shame if you did that?"

Sara looked down at her feet a moment, before she felt Sharras' fingers slip under her chin and turn her face up to her smile. "I knew you were only finding it hard to say goodbye after such a short visit. So I forgive you." Sara leaned forward to hug Sharra. "You are still so young … you don't understand yet how very much we love you."

So it was that Sara now rested into sleep after her first evening back on the road with a warm heart and a full pack.


	13. Chapter 13

Early the next morning, Lord Grayson stood at attention outside the War Room in the Castle proper as he was announced to and granted admittance by the King. "Grayson you old war horse, what brings you here at this hour?"

"My Liege, I have actually come to speak with Lord Uther, I believe I have found my successor in our fight against the evils of this world."

"What?" King Llane Wrynn looked at Lord Grayson Shadowsbane with open disbelief. "I was not aware we were looking for one."

"Your Majesty, it is one of my duties to find my replacement before one is needed and I …"

"**IN HEAVENLY ARMOR SHE'LL ENTER THE LAND, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT!" **From the entrance hall came the voice of a woman, filling the entire castle with her call.

King Wrynn sighed heavily at this interruption. "Five months now she has entered my court at this same time every day to deliver this same message."

"**NO WEAPON THAT'S FASHIONED AGAINST HER SHALL STAND, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT!" **

Grayson turned around to see the woman. She was tall and obviously strong for her muscles rippled with her every move. Her manner of walk was such that she did indeed process slowly and deliberately as if floating effortlessly up the hallway towards the Throne of Stormwind. Her beauty mesmerized everyone in the Keep from the first day she began her presentment.

"**WHEN THE POWER OF DARKNESS COMES IN LIKE A FLOOD, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT!"** Her head was covered with fiery red hair that seemed to float about her head like a crown, or a storm cloud, as it hung well down to cover her shoulders. From underneath her hair poked out the horns of a helm that was otherwise totally concealed. These were either real horns made of bone, or copies made of silver that had a dull patina. The only other silver looking items the woman wore were two armbands bound around her biceps. Bands of gold decorated the horns.

King Llane Wrynn rose from his desk in his war room and led the way to his throne. "Then, after I bow to her, she will walk quietly back out of the Keep and disappear into the crowds outside." Lord Uther took a stance to the King's right while the King's most trusted advisor, Garona, who usually stood upon his left, took a place behind the King to make room for Lord Shadowsbane.

"**SHE RAISES HER STANDARD, THE POWER OF LOVE, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT!"** Upon her chest was a highly ornamented red leather vest that was held in place as much by her form as by the gold bar that encircled her chest under the piece. Covering her groin was another highly ornamented red leather piece that matched the vest. Attached to each side at the top of this piece was a flat gold bar that was formed into intricate swirls and which curved to follow her form across her middle and held snugly to the swell of her hips. Engraved into the gold band were symbols that could be words.

"**WHEN THE ENEMY PRESSES IN HARD DO NOT FEAR, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT"** Her leather leggings were also trimmed and inlaid in gold. Each layer tucked into the one below it, alternating red and blue, until they seemed to disappear into the red leather boots. Each band of gold was intricately embossed with more of the unfamiliar script. Her hands were covered in red leather also, trimmed and etched in gold. The fingers of her gloves were capped in gold that came to points like claws which helped give the impression these were more weapons than simple protection.

"Have you tried to talk with her?"

The King responded with a look that spoke none too kindly of his attempts. "She will herald her rhyme and not another word. I even tried once to have her held, she just shrugged my guards off like they were paper dolls"

From her shoulders and down to her ankles hung a cape that was transparent as a spiders web at the top. As the weave thickened down to the bottom, so did the color increase until it was a deep purple at the bottom hem. It was held about her shoulders by a gold chain that was fastened at the hollow of her throat by an amulet.

"**SING GLORY, SING HONOR, SING POWER AND STRENGTH TO THE LIGHT!" **

Lord Uther whispered in the Kings' ear, "You could have heard this prophesy sung just this morning, your Majesty, had you come to the Cathedral for Vespers." The King gave a stern look to his Paladin then straightened his shoulders and put on his best Court face to address the woman Herald.

She had finished her announcement and now stood about five feet in front of the throne. She had stopped at this same spot each day. King Wrynn bowed to her as he had done every day for the last five months.

Lord Grayson inhaled sharply as he noticed the amulet around the woman's neck. The deep purple gemstone nestled in the golden bezel was lit from within just as … just like …

He looked up to the face of this beautiful woman to find her intense gaze boring deep into Lord Graysons' soul.

"Hello, this is new." King Wrynn took a step towards the woman, who slowly reached past him and then easily moved him aside with strength far greater than her form suggested.

She stepped around King Wrynn and stopped in front of Lord Shadowsbane "You have met her." There was no hint of a question in her voice.

"I have seen a broach just like the one you wear ..." A title, an honorific, he felt both exposed and embarrassed being so close to this woman not to honor her in some way. But his voice failed him at the intensity of her gaze and the moment slipped away.

Her gaze bore into him a moment longer. Then she raised her arms to the heavens as she turned about and proclaimed, **"SING GLORY, SING HONOR, SING POWER AND STRENGTH TO THE LIGHT MY FRIENDS, YOUR REDEMPTION IS HERE, THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LIGHT! **

She turned towards King Wrynn, "Even now, the battle has come to your very doors." She raised her arm as she spoke to point back the way she had come as the shout of the guards grew and echoed up from the entrance. The metal shod hooves of a Warcharger approaching at full gallop created a racket that filled the long hall leading to the Throne Room.

Her job completed, she turned once more and stepped behind those assembled by the King and into a portal that opened directly in front of her at the mere raising of her hand. "Their war has begun, are we …" The portal dissolved almost instantly. For a fleeting moment Garona, who stared after the woman as she walked into the portal, saw a room full of Red Dragons in the dissolving mist.

Then the messenger on his charger broke out into the Throne Room having ridden up the long hallway. The chargers' flanks were covered with foam. Blood colored the foam that collected at the corners of his mouth where the bit was placed. This horse had been ridden hard and far and most likely to its death.

The mount neighed loudly, turning its head from side to side at the sudden pain in his mouth as the messenger pulled hard on the reigns. The guards converged to put themselves between this horse and their sovereign but were bowled over like so many toy soldiers as the horse planted his four hooves trying to stop and scoring the tiles deeply as they slipped out in front of him. Even as the horse lay down from exhaustion the messenger jumped from the saddle yelling out his message. "My King! WE ARE INVADED!"

* * *

The rest of that first day away from Stormwind the three Paladins traveled through Goldshire and into the wilds of the North Elwynn Forrest before finding a good campsite as the sun turned red and sank to the west. The stars were beautiful but they also heralded a cool morning as the seasons progressed towards Winter.

First things first, her Father had told her many times. Rae led the Morning Vespers, thanking the Light for this day and the challenges it brought with it. Then they all did the usual warm-up exercises until Rae had no excuse but to begin to teach.

First she taught of how her heart sang with each morning and how she had begun to feel there was a pulse to each moment of every day. It was hard for her to stand still and she began to sway, then to dance the Cata she had decided upon for this day.

Her students were able to easily follow for a few beats until they performed a step in a place where Rae did not. In fact, Rae seemed to change the Cata they were so familiar with every few moves. She stopped when she realized she had lost her students.

She then started again only this time she used her years at dance school to name the moves just before they were to perform them. This worked much better for her students. After a few repetitions, she began to hum the same tune from the other morning when they watched her dance in the catacombs. All three of them were humming until Rae fell down laughing. She shared how she had thought their humming like birds. Then she suddenly sobered as she realized this Cata was just as delicate as those little hummingbirds watching from the lightest tree branches all around the campsite.

By mid-morning they had the movement down perfect. Then they took up arms and armor against a hastily constructed training dummy. Anna was first. To her delight, her moves tore the dummy apart in record time. Greyson then performed his movement and saw the same results. Rae at first refused to perform but finally did so at the insistence of her pupils.

At first, the dummy did not move at all. Rae was perplexed until she noticed that Greyson was almost unconscious on his feet. "Oh my." She helped him to sit down then took a moment to change her focus to the training dummy. This time it did not last past her second move, but was blown apart and so broken it was no longer repairable. Anna paused a moment as they broke down and cleaned up the campsite to take a long, considerate look at Rae.

Most of the rest of the daylight hours were spent traveling further east until they reached a campsite near the Eastvale Training Camp and the river that was the border between the Northern half of Elwynn Forrest and the Redridge Mountains. They made a quick camp then split up to scout the immediate area, seek game for dinner and collect firewood. This became their pattern for the rest of their travels.

The next morning Rae was unable to focus during Morning Vespers. She was actually relieved when the messenger stumbled upon their camp as he was trying to escape the hungry intentions of a large spider. This also gave her students a practical use for their newly learned catas.

He told of something sinister growing in Southern Elwood Forrest which had spread as far north as the Brightwood Grove already. Dog like creatures walking on two legs were appearing from nowhere, killing as they wished. The runner was returning from Stormwind City where his message was acknowledged, but left unanswered.

Grand Hamlet was out of their way but the need seemed to be greater. Camp was struck immediately and the Paladins crossed the river just south of where they had camped to shorten their journey.

There were many guards on the road. To each, the messenger heralded the arrival of the three Paladins as if they were the help Stormwind had sent. Some of the guards cheered, others sniffed skeptically and returned to their rounds.

"Seems they could have afforded to send more than an unknighted Paladin and two retainers," The new Captain of the Nightwatch, Althea Ebonlocke, was not impressed.

Anna had heard enough of this kind of remark, "Maybe we three will be more useful elsewhere then."

"Please forgive Commander Ebonlocke, Lady Evrhiana. We have been fighting hard for a long time now, and these creatures just keep coming."

"Bother Sammuel!" Anna threw her leg over the saddle and dropped from her mount to hug her friend. "Long time, old friend."

"Long time indeed. When Brother Wilhelm and I heard two auburn haired Paladins had arrived with a servant, we knew you had to be here. But I must admit I never expected our young lordling Greyson to be playing the part of the servant." Samuels' eyes were tearing up trying not to laugh. Anna could only look down while she tried not to choke.

"Sammuel, I am reduced to learning instead of teaching, so servant is good enough for me." Grey saluted as Samuel held Anna out to full arms length.

"Then you have been named?"

"No, lord Sammuel. I too am a student. May I introduce to you our trainer, the Lady Sayberry Rae Gordon, A Paladin from Lakeshire."

"Lakeshire?" Sammuel looked towards Rae, "There hasn't been an acolyte from Lakeshire in … years. I know, for I record the names of the Acolytes and Trainees in the Registrars at Northrend Abby. I am Sammuel, a Trainer of Paladins in their earliest years. We are well met, Lady Sayberry."

"Rae, please. I don't deserve any titles or honors like I was someone special or some noblewoman." Rae was blushing again.

"Ahh, but nobility is not something you may put on and take off at will. Rather it is something born inside you. But I do not remember ever seeing such a beautiful woman as you at my Abby, and certainly no Paladin from Lakeshire, ever. Perchance you first trained with Wilhelm?"

"Nay Sammuel, she trained not with me." Wilhelm had come out of the home to their left to join them. "Where have you trained and who was your trainer that you have managed to acquire these two (Shall we call them rising stars?) as your first pupils and at such a young age yourself?" The way Wilhelm rolled his R's, and used his voice which was such a rich baritone, Rae found she liked him even though his gaze upon her was strict. "You aren't being punished, are you?"

"It is a long tale for road weary travelers to tell out in the streets." Anna nodded her head towards the Inn as she replied.

"There Sammuel, once again you have been thoughtless enough to gab in the open instead of arranging for the comforts of our guests." Sammuel pantomimed stabbing himself in the heart while placing his hand on his forehead in a swoon. Wilhelm merely continued as if nothing had happened. "This way, this way lord Greyson, lady Anna, and to you my Lady …"

"Rae please, just Rae." She interrupted.

"No one can say YOU haven't learned humility Honorable Lady Rae." Wilhelm eyed Sammuel pointedly as he spoke this, and Sammuel, still having his fist upon his breast, now twisted the hand with the imaginary blade before bowing as he ushered the new arrivals into the Tavern where they occupied a table near the hearth and spoke of happenings in Stormwind, their travels and their commission long into the evening.


	14. Chapter 14

The night was well advanced by the time they had formulated a plan for the upcoming day. Rae went to bed long before the others wandered up the stairs to their rooms.

"Ssssay-berrrry …" A whisper drifted through the open window upon the light breeze that barely stirred the leaves of the trees. Rae rolled her head on her pillow towards the closed window and noticed the full moon just coming over the eves on its way to the far horizon. Its' beams shining directly into her window seemed to light the entire room with an uncanny brilliance as the smell of lilacs filled the room.

Rae felt somewhat disconnected from herself, as if she were walking a dream, while the beams of light began to first swirl then collected together and a diaphanous woman stepped into the room. She was clothed in the sheerest of silks, so sheer as to almost be nonexistent partly because of the light that radiated from within her. All was held in place by white gold and silver filigrees wrapping about her form from the high crown upon her head to her ankles. The crown itself was jeweled in such a fashion that it seemed to Rae the woman wore the light of stars upon her brow.

"So beautiful …" she whispered as she sat up to get a better view. Her Amulet softly slipped to the sheets and began to glow as the woman raised her arm to beckon Rae to her.

The woman seemed to move as if she were swimming in slow motion, her slippers barely touching the floor. Rae could think of nothing to say as she slid out of her bed so she simply kneeled with her head down.

"I have a gift for you." The woman's voice seemed more solid now even though it was still a whisper. "You must return it to me before you sleep your final slumber." The woman raised her arm and turned her hand upwards to caress Raes face with the back of her hand. When she reached her chin she gently cupped her fingers under it and raised Raes face so their eyes met. Instantly the Woman became solid as she raised her other arm to deflect a beam of moonlight towards the bed where it began to swirl and sparkle as it collected over the Amulet into a ball of light. "With it, you will be able to survive the battles ahead." Even after she lowered her hand and the moonbeam was cut off, the ball of light continued to grow.

The White Lady spoke of many things that night as the moonlight filled the room and the swirling upon the bed continued to grow. At times throughout the night it shimmered and sparkled as if it too were hearing and being taught as it wove itself.

From the pictures that now grew in her minds' eye, Rae learned how to properly use her Ranseur. She learned that the five words she already knew had power in battle. One other word she also learned that would perform as mighty a healing as she had the Mana to perform. She learned another word also this night that she was not to use except in direst need, for it would drain her of almost all her life force. She now knew all seven of the Words of Power.

She learned too the consequences of tapping too often into those forces and what happened when you became too dependant upon them. "A lesson I failed to teach the High Born Lady Azsharra and the other High Elves in their time." the Lady said sadly, remembering a time almost forgotten even now.

Rae saw the sadness in the Lady's eyes as she heard it in her voice. The woman now cradled the Ranseur in her arms almost as if it were a small baby, "It's name used to be Heartseeker, and it was known for the Paladins it had killed." The battles that filled Rae's mind were fierce.

"That was why Delven didn't want to train you to use it. It killed his father." The image of Lord Delven as a young man filled Raes vision. He lay in the corner of a room bleeding from a horrible gash in his side as an older Dwarf fought in front of him. Suddenly Rae was viewing the fight from Delvens' point of view when a bright red flash nearly blinded him as the blade of Heartseeker, still glowing fiercely bright, pierced through his father.

The woman smiled, "But, now that you have cleansed it, it has no name, and almost no identity of its own beyond its most basic nature. What shall you name it?"

"If you please, I shall name it Moonlight, in honor of you."

The woman smiled the more as she nodded her head for the honor she heard in Rae's voice. Then her voice changed and she addressed the Polearm. "From this day forward you shall be called Anar'a Elune." As she spoke the name, the Ranseur sprang to life, its yellow light flaring high from its blade. The woman raised her hand and took control of the flame. As she did so, the radiance from Anar'a Elune changed from bright yellow to pearly white and became as a liquid, dancing in her sphere of influence. She caused it to flow over the blade and down over the shaft where is began to cool, turned into liquid Mithril and swirled until it reformed into an ancient script that declared its new name. Then it sank deep into the handle where it cooled instantly and completely.

"Rae?" Anna had tapped gently then more insistently as Rae failed to answer her. "Open the door." Moonlight's flame had been so bright it showed through the spaces around the door and attracted Annas' attention as she was passing on her way to bed. Now, in her concern for her friend, she was calling as she alternately banged on the door and tried to work the handle. "RAE!"

Then Rae learned new words of life and of passion. She learned the secret words that renewed not only the strength of a person, but also their lifes' energy, their Mana.

The woman held up the Sin'dorei Warblade. It fairly danced to be in her grasp and she laughed. "This blade has already been touched by love. Its last owner was a man who gave greatly of himself to others. Even to the time of his death which allowed his comrades the chance to escape. I ask you to keep its name as it has been since its forging. It is Sholamon, and it has been endowed with great enchantments of wisdom. Because it has been listening to us as I have taught you, it has learned much tonight."

Rae smiled, "Hello Sholamon." Sholamon broadcast his happiness, his own yellow flame igniting.

The woman reached out and took control of this flame also. Changing, forming and shaping it until it burned pearly white and sank deep into the blade coming all the way through. Then it too turned into Mithril and wrapped an intricate design around and through the handle and blade before it cooled. She handed the blade to Rae. "If you listen with your heart, it will translate any of the languages of this land for you to understand." Then she taught Rae the seven words of healing; "Be careful how you use these, my dear, for while they will heal a friend, some of them will harm a foe."

Greyson, Sammuel and Wilhelm had come when they heard Annas' concern growing and added their shoulders to the stuck door. As one they hit the door again with no evidence of their effort. As they collected themselves for a third hit, they heard the latch click and the door slowly swung open. All stood still now as they saw who was standing over Rae in the failing moonlight.

The White Lady took the one step towards Rae that had separated them. "Lord Shadowsbane's mission is unimportant; for Princess Moira is right where she wants to be. Spend this day instead teaching your friends what I have taught you, for on this day the last of your party shall join you."

Rae raised her head to look into the eyes of the woman. In the perfect calm of her dream the woman bent down and kissed Rae upon the forehead, "I give to you my blessing." Raes' hair which had been red up until this moment turned pearly white beginning from her forehead until it reached the last longest end. "Now travel east, and prepare for your greatest trial." Then she was gone. The moon had set.

Upon the bed lay a complete set of armor with inscribed words like artwork upon all the edges. Each word appeared to glow for a few more moments until all at once the armor disappeared leaving only Raes' Amulet which fell back onto the bed now it was without something to support it.

Rae stood and stretched until she turned and saw the crowd at her door. "Oh my," She grabbed up her cloak from the chair next to her. "Did I miss something? Or do you think it is good manners to just barge into a ladies bedchamber?"

* * *

"PRIESTESS!"

Tyrande automatically reached for her staff as she came out of her bed. _I've been too soft, too lenient; these new ones do not remember I'm a huntress._ Her mood had been difficult at best for the last month, but now … This acolyte was going to have to pay for disturbing her dream with Malfurion.

The aroma of lilacs overwhelmed her and tugged at the High Priestess' memory when she parted the curtain with the leading tip of her staff. The acolyte was kneeling in the middle of the room. _Good,_ she thought, _she needs to be praying I kill her quickly._ She took a step toward her raising the staff in her hands. It may not have a blade or a point, but it would hurt all the same.

The acolyte did not remain silent while awaiting her fate; "Priestess, someone is walking in the Gardens."

Tyrande immediately looked out the open windows. The Full Moon showed that all the Garden she could see outside was in full bloom … Full bloom in the middle of the night? She leapt for the balcony and looked down into the Garden, the acolyte forgotten.

There was a woman in the center, standing under the Gazebo.

_Is it you? _Tyrande leapt over the balustrade. She rolled as she hit the ground leaving her staff neatly where she landed as she came up running.

The woman began to turn even as Tyrande hit the ground. As Tyrande finished her roll and released her staff, the woman finished her turn, still looking down as her arms came up to draw back the hood of her cloak.

To Tyrande, she moved very slowly. She remembered this effect from the wars. Her mind was working so fast that time seemed stretched out. It had saved her life on several occasions, when she had caught a movement or the flash of a weapon she had not seen before. This time, she saw nothing more than what she hoped was her Mistress.

The woman's cowl fell backward off her head as Tyrande took her first step inside the gazebo. Suddenly the woman had raised her head as the cloak slipped off her shoulders. Tyrande came to a stop and knelt two full steps in front of her goddess as the radiance once contained by the cloak burst out suddenly, lighting the night like a beacon.

Elune, standing in front of Tyrande, did not smile as she took them both into the Emerald Dream.

The empty cloak settled quietly to the ground in the sudden darkness under the empty Gazebo.


	15. Chapter 15

Tyrande knelt under a gazebo in the middle of a garden that filled a world. Elune no longer wore a cloak to hide her radiance. Rather, she shined out as bright as the full moon on a cloudless night. She was clothed in diaphanous layers of silk held in place by white gold and silver filigrees wrapping about her form from the high crown upon her head to her ankles. Tyrande's heart melted, "How may I serve you."

"I came to speak with my High Priestess, instead I found my Huntress."

Tyrande thought for only a moment, "Forgive me, I did not know the acolyte was you."

"That was the test, dear. Now I need to find another, and time in your realm is short." Elune placed a hand gently upon Tyrandes head.

A tear came to Tyrande as knowledge entered her; the attack force that was about to be released in the Redridge Mountains, the importance of her goddesses need in this battle, and finally what her failure could mean, the fall of Lorderon and the destruction of Dalaran to come. As each revelation entered her, Tyrande fell lower and lower until finally she was face down on the ground at Elunes' feet, openly weeping.

"Goddess, you must give her hope." A very familiar male voice spoke from behind Tyrande, adding to her shame.

"Yes, my High Priestess should have hope, otherwise how will she spread hope to her charges?" New images filled Tyrandes' mind, images of time and love to come with her husband, of new powers in healing and the battle arts that were to be learned, and finally of a young human girl with white hair and freckles dressed in shining armor and wielding a Renseur. As the amulet at the hollow of her throat sparkled, a long line of red headed women, Paladins all, appeared one at a time in succession until the first one returned and the vision dissolved.

"How may I serve her, them."

Tyrande, her face to the ground, did not see Elune smile.

The tears that had collected on the ground in front of her now became a scrying pool. In the waters of the pool, Tyrande saw an Elf girl walking in the wilds, no more than 50, still a child in the eyes of the Children of the Stars. The way she was setting and resetting the freeze trap in a small creek told Tyrande she was scared and not well experienced or trained. Then she looked around her and the scrying pool froze the vision as she faced Tyrande. "I have chosen a helper for my Champion. But, as these things happen from time to time, I now have a need for a Huntress to train her. Her name is …"

* * *

Sarafeena Sorrowsmile was being stalked; she knew the signs of it. It had been a long night moving from one shadow to the next. Now dawn had come and gone but her game of cat and mouse still drug on. She hated being the mouse, it was worse than milking cats.

Constantly vigilant of her surroundings, she set a freeze trap in the bottom of a small runoff creek that crossed the path before continuing onward to find an area she could better defend. When she heard it snap she turned and ran quickly back to find a large stick in the middle of it. Whoever it was, they were playing with her.

That was enough for her. She began to summon Malonii, her most fierce and loyal friend, when her shoulder exploded in pain. She dropped into a thatch of bushes she was standing near and completed her summoning. Where an Elf girl fell a White Tigress exploded forth into the face of their attacker. Sara got up and ran as the two battled.

The ugly dart in her shoulder made her arm useless. If she could have seen it, she would have seen the angry red tendrils spreading, seeking her heart. She was barely able to keep her balance as she ran, and her breath kept getting shorter as she needed it more. Still she ran until, as she came upon a wide river, her heart suddenly constricted. She knew Malonii was dead.

She fell more than dove into the swirling waters as her grief tried to rob her of her last breath. The current carried her, she had no choice, and she had no strength left to swim. It was hard to concentrate as she raised her arms above her head to try and summon Pandorii into the living world to protect her.

She shook her head several times trying to keep focused before her heart seemed to relax as she touched Pandii's soul. But it took all her remaining strength. Pandii was with her, trying to get under her and keep her above the water. Then Pandii nuzzled her muzzle into the pit of her useless arm and started swimming towards the opposite bank.

Sara opened her eyes as she slowly slid beneath the surface of the water again. There was no more reason to hurry, nothing more to fear. It was so calm here as she looked up through the water into the depthless crystal blue eyes measuring her very soul.

"I cannot let you rest yet Sarafeena. I require the fulfillment of your oath to me." A ray of light, or was it hope, entered her breast causing her to bob back to the surface and draw a deep breath of the cool moist air waiting there for her.

Something splashed into the water next to her, the ripples wiped across her face as the disturbed water erased the vision, wave by wave, until she saw the face of a human hovering before her. She was grabbed by the straps of her leather armor and hauled to the short beach. "She's still alive," someone said.

"Of course she's still alive; her Panther would have left if she had died. Careful of that dart, it's probably poisoned." Captain Ebonlocke of the Watch had seen the body floating in the river as she made her rounds. In her mind that made this girl her responsibility.

"Ain't no probably 'bout it, Commander, look-it 'er shoulder."

"Hoist her onto Broon. There are Paladins in Grand Hamlet who should be able to tend to her body. If not, then her soul." The Guardsmen hoisted the Elf, pack and all, onto the stallion in front of the captain. "Helvas, stay here in case whatever shot her turns up."

Captain Helvas Grange nodded as he finished tying a leather thong around the boots of the Elf. He was her most trusted Captain and would know what to do with these recruits.

"Day by day Grand Hamlet gets darker and darker." One of the men was grumbling, "What will we do when our homes become nothing more than a Dark Shire?"

Althea Ebonlocke used one hand to steady the Elf while she drew on the reigns to guide Broon. "I'll tell the Elders your suggestion of the new name for our Hamlet."

The mens laughter died out quickly as as Helvas began issuing orders. She rode off picking her trail carefully until it opened out into the old growth woods that had first attracted Althea to this area of Southern Elwood Forest. It was a short enough ride to town. However, this time an ebony shadow shaped like a great cat moved with them running silently in and out of the tall grasses.

Sara vomited water as the horse moved along the nearly invisible paths its rider directed it along. "Yes, that's it. Get that all out now, dear." The Commander encouraged her, placing her hand on her good shoulder as she vomited again, "One less thing to be healed from."

The whole world was turning and bouncing for Sara. Everything she saw caused her stomach to tighten again and again until she was sure she was vomiting herself inside out. The last thing Sara saw as her world flipped over once more, were men and women jogging towards her.

* * *

'She should never have had enough time to summon one of her little pets.' The White Tigress lay before him in an ever widening puddle of its own blood. Sookie spit with disgust as he threw down the dart he had been examining. The poison was almost useless; only fit for some half-trained doctor or maybe a dentist. He had never had a poison go bad before. '_Until now_,' he brushed off the thought like an unwanted gnat.

His brewing was very meticulous. So much so that his instructors constantly harped on him about wasted ingredients from the batches he threw away. He would have to trace his ingredients back to their origins to see why this one failed so quickly. But not now, now he had to find the huntress he had wounded.

It was easy to follow her trail to the rivers edge. Nothing, he found nothing in the grasses leading to the river, and now he could see nothing moving on the other side. He followed the river downstream until he saw the disturbed gravel on the other bank. It was too big for just one girl.

Quietly he sat waiting, but not for long. He saw movement as one of the newest guards left behind to watch stretched out his legs under a bush. He knew they could not see him; he could fade into the shadow of a lone bush in the desert at noon when he concentrated hard enough.

He closed his eyes and listened, and remembered this Elf. He remembered her from the Northern Marshes where he had killed a farmer. He wanted to kill her then but that patu'k Darkwind robbed him of the chance. He sneered as he thought the name. He had claimed her for his own trophy belt, and then went into the house to dispose of her. But here she was, alive.

A twig snapped and his attention immediately returned to the here and now. He looked down to see the snapped twig under his own foot. '_Proof enough_.' The little voice could not resist chiding him again.

He decided not to follow further and turned back from the river to clean the tigress for his dinner. When he got back to the small stream, it was gone. The huntress must have died after all. '_Or survived and summoned it again_', the voice in his head chided him '_Or maybe she summoned another of her pets that is stalking you right this moment.'_ White hot fury colored his vision red. This was not turning out to be a good week. First there was that Paladin that had almost killed Maladay. Now this girl had slipped away from him in broad daylight.

He melted into the shortening shadows and slipped away.


	16. Chapter 16

What should have been the highlight of his career had become a day Bron hated to remember. He did not know until just a short while ago that this wisp of a woman, this teenager, was the last of the Gordon line.

When they had first brought Miss Rae into the woman's barracks, one of the catalogers took the pendant from her hands and began to walk out of the room with it. Even in her coma Rae knew the pendant was no longer with her. She became more restless as the Amulet was taken further from her.

"Here now, where are you going with that?" Bron stood in the open doorway, entering the cabin.

"To the Treasure Room to have it properly catalogued." The 'Treasure Room' was what they named the cabin where everything found was catalogued, cleaned and prepared for transit to the College of Antiquities in Ironforge. The assistant moved as if to push through, past Bron as he entered. 'Maybe if I get through the door quick enough …' he thought.

Corbit spoke up, "Sir, I had a chance to look at that while we were carrying Rae over here and it has her name etched on it. It can't be something from this dig."

"Let me see it Weston."

Not quick enough. He was trapped. He drew a knife and waved it in Brons' face, "Move".

Raes' sudden restlessness caused her to moan drawing all eyes to her as she raised her arm, opened her hand and breathed words not heard for many ages of men. "Anar'alah Alexstraza."

The stone set in the center of the locket responded instantly. It flashed as the man cried out and dropped the amulet as if he'd been shocked.

Bron was not looking at the Amulet, he was centered on the thief. So when the thief dropped the Amulet, Bron acted. He tackled Weston who fell solidly against the support beam in the center of the barracks causing him to be dazed twice over. Bron then reared back and delivered a solid blow to his chin, ending the battle. Corbit bound his hands after that and, using some rainwater, woke him and encouraged him with his own knife from the room.

Bron was disturbed enough when he had found this girls name written on the third page of the book he had been holding when she fell. He would keep that secret even from his most trusted associates for now.

Bron knew the language, but not the proper pronunciation. After all, it had not been spoken for more than three centuries. The small book he had found at another site years ago, the one that had led him here in his relentless search for the ancient knowledge it suggested, had pages and pages written in the ancient language. Words that now danced in Brons' imagination as they came alive within him. Whole passages within the little book suddenly came to life, burning in his memory as they became understandable to him. And he began to know way deep down in a part of him that had lain dormant and dead until now what it meant to hold the life of a dedicated hunting pet in his hands and channel the energies of the cosmos for its care … and why it had been necessary to let that go so long ago.

"What did she say?" Corbit came up beside Bron and breathed his questions after the thief had been removed. "What does it mean?"

"It is Talaxian … Thalaxian", he corrected himself. "The Light … No, by the Stars", he looked anew at the Amulet, "… It's the 'Eye of Alexstraza.' She called the Amulet by name … and it came to her. It is mentioned only a few times in all the histories I have read. Each time it has appeared … The last time it is mentioned is in a recounting of a battle where a Knight who wore it was credited with turning back an entire invasion force." For a moment Bron was speechless as he remembered the passage … "Born on the Solstice, on the Equinox chosen, Her darkness she'll turn into gold …" Even whispering the passages caused his skin to tighten and tingle as if their very whisperings produced a power, a charge of electricity within his very soul.

Rae settled once again in her sleep. This time she was smiling. The Amulet now lay in the hollow of her throat. The light within pulsed rhythmically. And her hair color began to lighten.

He turned to the men who had come at Corbin's call and now crowded the doorway. "You, Lea, Take two with you and go to the relay station. If there is a doctor there, send him back with Connor. But do not return until you have contacted the Gordon Foundation. Tell them ... tell them Miss Gordon has taken ill, and needs immediate assistance. Do not pack anything ... Just go."

It had been five days since Rae had fallen in the downpour. And except for that one incident, she had not responded to anything happening around her. The only difference in her condition was that her hair had begun to slowly change from its natural auburn color to a pearly white, but she was still in a deep and sound sleep; which had not changed.

The shotgun barrel Bron was now on the wrong end of was new.

* * *

Sara slept much of the day in the healing cocoon of any one of five different Paladins as each took their turns looking after her.

The poison had been enchanted to prevent it being removed without an antidote. So Commander Ebonlocke and two of her best healers rode to Raven Hill at the other end of the province where she found the spiders she needed to harvest for their poison sacs and the antidote they represented. Finally, as the sun was nearing the horizon, the party returned with the sacs and Wilhelm and Sammuel added their expertise to the local healers to brew the antidote. As dinner was served, Sara slipped into a restorative sleep and was allowed to rest naturally.

When they were not caring for their fallen party member, the Paladins were training in the methods Rae had relearned the night before. All the cadences Rae had tried to find a way to express came easily to her now, and were greedily learned by the other four. Wilhelm and Sammuel were so impressed with the results of the first teaching, they had included themselves in as many as their work allowed them to attend, swearing to teach these new techniques to any new student they took on or were assigned.

"We were told the last member of our group would join us today, and she is the only person who has entered Grand Hamlet. She has to have been sent here by the Lady." Greyson stated in his 'matter-of-fact' way.

"Then we wait for her to wake." Rae was getting tired of going over the same ground. "Besides, if she IS walking this Emerald Dream you keep telling me about, she may have more information for us when she DOES awake."

* * *

Sara was not walking in the Emerald Dream; she was fighting for her life. It started like any other nightmare she had ever dreamed. She woke up lying on a brier of rushes and sweet grasses outside Starbreeze Village, just like on that day when she found herself the only survivor of the attack. It was just as beautiful today as it was back then. But she knew if she turned around she would see all the mutilated bodies. Then, like every other time this dream had haunted her, she gets up turns around. Only this time as she stepped off the brier, she set off the first trap. It hugged her foot instead of sinking needles or serrated teeth into it. She stared at the practice trap for a long moment before looking around in the brush.

After that she began seeing traps all around her. The more she set off, the more there were. When she successfully disarmed one trap instead of triggering it, all the other traps around her just like that one disappeared. Once she had all the traps she could see disarmed she began to find traps badly hidden, then traps well hidden, then traps hidden where they should never have been able to be hidden. At this time she also began to find combinations of traps. She found one trap sticking half out from under a log and when she went to disarm it she set off a freeze trap fixed to the underside of the log itself. It was then, while her hand was still frozen to the log, that she was first attacked.

A sudden tapping on the back of her head caused her to lose her concentration in disarming the second trap so it clasped itself around her unfrozen hand as she tried to see what had hit her. She was glad there was no one really there who could tell of her embarasement as she waited for the traps to release her.

But now, every time she caught her breath a crazed Night Elf attacked her. Or if she set off a trap the lady would come out of nowhere and slap Sara with her staff before running away laughing. Over and over again she would jump down at her from a tree limb, or out from behind a bolder, or she would actually BE the bolder and attack as Sara was trying to go around or over her. She would yell as she jumped out or scream in her face as Sara missed a block. Once she was attacked by one of the walking plants of the Emerald Nightmare and the Night Elf watched, just watched, until Sara defeated the plant. Then when Sara turned and took a stance to defend herself against the crazy lady, she just smiled and walked away only to jump at her again a few minutes later.

She was tired and bruised and despairing of life as the Night Elf ran off again, laughter trailing from her as she lithely jumped over a rock and just disappeared. It was the third time Sara had been driven to the ground using the same attack … the same swing … the same ... An idea awoke in her mind.

When she saw the next trap she nonchalantly stepped around it then dropped a stone onto it as she leapt for the log it was attached to. Instantly as the trap triggered the Night Elf appeared almost directly in front of Sara. The woman successfully blocked the swing Sara aimed at her head but Sara countered by rolling her staff from underneath to slip inside the defensive ring of her opponent. She then dropped to her knees so the other Night Elf tripped and fell right over Sara. Without even thinking, she grabbed the opposite shoulder of her opponent and rolled off the log and onto the ground where she held HER staff against the mad Elf's neck for all of one breath before being thrown backwards.

This time Sara was fighting with everything she had. Sara had slid her hand down to the other Elfs' bicep and for that crucial moment as she was thrown, she was able to get her feet under her instead of flying onto her back. Then she brought up her staff as she disengaged and slapped the lady on her cheek. They circled for a moment before Sara saw that same opening and went lunged. Just at the last moment, as the woman closed the opening Sara knew was a trap, she rolled to the other side of the woman and was able to grab a fist full of hair before the woman slipped her staff between her legs as Sara hoped she would. But she refused to let go of the hair so the other woman went down hard onto her back as Sara threw herself right on top of her. It was her turn to scream into the face of her opponent.

The crazy lady just lay there and smiled for a moment. "Finally. Now let's work on your other abilities, Sarafeena Sorrowsmile."

Sara rolled off the woman and into a defensive crouch. "You know me?"

The other woman stood leaving her staff on the ground as a huge white tiger came out of the bushes and sat next to her. "Much better now than when we first met. But our time is short and your need is great. Come, Ash'alah.

Sara paused mid-stride at the name of the crazy lady's tiger. She suddenly knew who this woman was. With the realization, she lost her hold of her staff.

"Come little Huntress, you have much to learn before I am to return to the Temple."


	17. Chapter 17

As the sun set, Tyrande found herself once again under the pavilion in the center of the Temple Gardens and began to weep anew.

Three of the Temple Guards ran into the Gardens of Elune. No one was supposed to be in there. How could it have happened, they were standing at the only doorway in or out. If the Priestess found out someone had gotten past them … She had been in a bad mood for this entire last week leading up to the Rights of the Full Moon of Elune last night. Then, just after the final rights were completed, she had simply walked out of the Feast that began the Season of Harvest and not been seen since.

They split up, each following a different path. Malissa turned to the right onto the Rising Path, where acolytes would be sent to test their gifts. Laquitta chose the Surest Path where those dedicated to the Healing Arts would seek wisdom and balance. The Path of the Harvest Moon was gladly taken once again by Tyndel. It was a path she was familiar with, where those selected by their sisters would travel to seek the meaning of their own dreams. All three paths converged at the Gazebo that marked the center of the Gardens where they found the High Priestess on her knees, bent over double in grief, her face in her hands. Before her was an empty robe lying as if someone had just stepped out of it.

The other two stood waiting as Malissa, the ranking guard on duty, knelt and gently placed a hand upon the shuddering shoulders of her Priestess. "Command us, Priestess."

Tyrande lifted her head to look up into the eyes of Malissa Starsong, her long time friend. "Thirty Five years ago," she whispered, "I sent away a sister who would not sit still, would not reign in her thoughts and find balance, would not look into herself to find her challenge, and would not stay out of the woods. I refused to even meet her, relying totally upon the reports of her teachers who felt her time here was a waste of our abilities. Now, she rides with the chosen of Elune. And I am ashamed of my lack with her. Of my lack with so many over the years.

"I allowed my own pride to make my choices, and forgot to open my heart. I was the one at fault, the one who failed the test over and over again. Elune be praised, I was given another chance to train this one. But she is green and untried. I foresee that she will be tested to the utmost even now as her first test begins. But she has never had to kill a person before."

"If Elune has chosen her, my Priestess, then maybe our teachings, those many years ago, and certainly your teachings today will be enough. If not, then send me." Tyndel cleared her throat even as Laquitta looked intently at Malissa through the ornamental gildings of the Gazebo, "Send us."

Tyrande grasped Malissa's shoulder, "I am forbidden to go to her, or even to send her help."

"Is she forbidden to accept help offered?" Tyrande looked up into Tyndel's face with renewed hope.

"Then release us from your service so we may find and help her." Laquitta spoke with fervor.

"I can release you from service. What you do now is up to you."

The three Temple Sentinels came to the front of the Gazebo and reached out their left hands to each other to bind their commitment to the quest. "Where should we begin our search?"

A flash of a memory of the mounted woman returned to Tyrande, then another and another as the pieces of what Elune told her fit into place in her mind. Until a final image of the weapon of the Night Guards weapon of office and a Blood Soaked Renseur came to her mind held by a Human. The weapon looked different than all the others she had seen, it shone white as the robes of Elune. "A Swiftfoot of Arowsdale is to ride in service to a Human woman wielding a White …, no …, a Purified Renseur."

"My Lady, that household is gone." Tyndel spoke softly, "Whoever did it wiped out an entire village to be certain no member of that household survived that long night."

Tyrande began to draw a portal "Someone did, a lone Huntress I once prayed to Elune to give me patience over", she paused a moment when she realized Elune had done just that. "She is in the darkening land of Southern Elwood Forrest, in the Kingdom of Azeroth."

"Then let us begin there." Malissa, expecting to be the leader, stepped forward as Tyrande turned to Tyndel. "If you miss her there, go to Lakeshire and ask for Sharra the Healer." Tyndel nodded then stepped up to the Portal to be stopped as a hand came through the event horizon and wagged a finger. The hand withdrew through the portal which then fell in upon itself. "Perhaps you may use the Portals in the sanctuary to travel to Stormwind and begin your search."

* * *

The party had doubled in size since it set out from Stormwind. Wilhelm and Sammuel would not be left behind by any argument or persuasion. They mostly acted as outriders when the party rode out, taking positions to the right and left of the trails they rode and about 100 feet ahead. In the evenings they provided all the entertainment any party could hope for; between the stories and the constant good natured 'correcting' each had for the others stories or point of view.

Sarafeena, already knew she was to join the party when she awoke. She told them of her time in the Emerald Dream and the woman who had refused to identify herself. At the last moment, the crazy lady invited Sara to Darnassus if she lived through her ordeal.

Annaralia, who had spent several years training at the Temple there, promised to be her guide since Sara had never even visited the great city of the Night Elves. She had trained for a very short time at Starbreeze Village until it was overrun. That was when she knew she could never show her face at the Temple. 'If she had just held her position a little longer', she thought to herself, 'Maybe the village would have been saved.'

Anna and Grey presented Rae with a mirror at their lunch on the day Sara had arrived at Grand Hamlet and then counted all the times Rae paused to look at her reflection, at her white hair. The first nights campfire was taken up with a discussion and an accounting of the number of times she had been seen doing this.

She had been very proud of her red hair. Not too red, like a strawberry blonde, not too dark so as to be mistaken for brown. She had several outfits she had matched together just to show off her full head of auburn hair, and the styles it could be easily put into. She remembered what Lord Grayson said about pride unhumbled and did her best to put aside her feelings.

Truth be told, Rae was still in shock about it two days later when the first attack occurred in the evening while they were setting up camp. Wilhelm and Grey were setting up the tents while Anna and Rae were out collecting firewood and Sara and Sam were unpacking the cooking utensils. Anna had gone off to the right into the deep woods while Rae searched towards the river.

When Rae first saw the bend in the river and the deep hole it created, she just knew she had to have a quick wash. The heat of these last days of summer had left her sticky. And, she knew no matter how diligent she was in her tent she could never be as clean and refreshed with soap and a bowl of tepid water as she would be with a quick swim.

She took off and rinsed out her armor and then soaked her padding and undergarments next to the willow tree where she hung them to dry. She then lithely dove into the deep, cold water of the river wearing only the chemise and matching panties she had bought that day she had also made her first best friend. Swimming in that wonderful water, warmed by the sun as it filtered through the trees was like playing in heaven. She swam about until she decided she could dally no longer.

The first inkling Rae had she was in danger came as she climbed out of the water. Her skin seemed to crawl as she felt an energy being collected around her. Without thought she reached out one hand to call her Amulet to her and performed her warding ritual with the other hand. The Amulet slapped into her palm just as her Divine Shield formed around her and roots grew up out of the ground at her feet to ensnare her. The protective bubble pushed outwards against the strong roots until the lesser vines began to snap.

Rae turned to see her attackers as she pulled the chain of her Amulet over her head.

"My turn, mon." A lanky looking creature jumped from the bank next to where another of his kind and a huge buffalo looking man stood. He splashed through the shallow water that marked the presence of the sandbar that acted as a wall to collect the river water into this one deep swimming hole.

"Be quick Fairaday! We are looking to capture or kill a Champion, not have sport with a little girl." The large buffalo-man bellowed in a language Rae felt she could understand if she didn't try to listen so hard. The huge nose ring worn by the buffalo-man made Rae grimace at the pain it must have caused being set in place.

"But I like sporting with little, Human, girls." His ear-rings tingling against one another on his large ears as he advanced made music not unlike a wind chime. The lanky man thing lazily swung his pearly white mace, knowing he could not attack through Raes' bubble. The mace had been a recent prize taken from a Paladin he had killed a few days ago. He knew he could not benefit from any of the special attributes the Mace could possibly give him, as would its rightful owner. But still, it was a good mace.

Rae did not need to understand their speech to know that her honor as well as her life was at stake here. The roots strangling her protective shield began to wither even as her barrier began to fade away. Her attacker raised the pearly white mace to attack while Rae furiously worked a complicated casting and her protective bubble faded out of existence.

Rae caught the hammer with her hands outstretched to complete the last gesture of her casting just before it connected with her bare chest. In that moment lightning struck down from a clear sky in answer to her call … and her Amulet came to life.

Her hands naturally grabbed the hammer as it swung into her grasp. She easily pulled it out of the suddenly lax grasp of the monster even as the force of the blow lifted her up and sent her flying backwards towards the riverbank where her cloths were drying. Then a light cascaded outward and all around her momentarily. Rae felt new vitality and strength; even her thoughts seemed to come faster.

With a surety and confidence she had not felt a moment before; Rae used the force of the blow to throw her feet up over her head even as the Amulet blossomed to life and consumed her with its brilliance.

The edge of the bank was coming up fast as she swung the mace about until it planted upon the verge of the bank, the hammers' head becoming the focus of her spin. Her feet came down hard into the soft dirt and she slid slightly when she planted her left foot behind her to stop her backward movement.

She brought the mace back up to cross her chest, sliding her left hand up to stop the head from hitting her shoulder. When the light of the Amulet cleared from her body, she was covered in the armor given to her by the White Lady. Finally, the lights coalesced around the head of the weapon which reveled in the strength of the Power it was now bathed in as the Purified Kor Gem came to life within the head of the war hammer. The Mace had lost its master and now knew it had a chance to strike back at the ones who had robbed it of its life-mate.

Now she was standing a few feet further away but still facing her attackers, fully armored, armed, and with a grim expression upon her face.

The man-thing who had attacked her was floating in the deeper waters, his head split open.

As the light grew around Rae, Darkwind realized his worst fear had come true. The very Champion the Blood Knights were diligently searching out now stood before him. And their attack had made her angry.

From next to him, Maladay, the dead mans' twin, howled with rage and anguish. She leapt off the riverbank and blindly rushed towards Rae. Her sudden anger blossoming within her blinded her to the presence of her knives in her sash. All she thought about was ripping the life from the woman who murdered her brother.

Raes' eyes never left the woman as she advanced. "My turn", she unknowingly echoed the man thing. She had already shifted the mace and started moving her left hand. She began to feel the power of the Amulet coalesce around her and fall into the war hammer. Rae performed the last move of her casting just as she leapt in a pirouette from the bank towards the woman.

Maladay, suddenly stunned into silence, stumbled and faltered in the shallow waters of the near side of the river. Her eyes went wide as the force of Raes' casting struck her and she bent backwards.

Grabbing the mace with both hands as she fell from her leap, she brought it down on the chest of her attacker. Like a rag doll the woman's' body crumpled as the mace, the light never leaving it, swung down with the force of Raes full weight behind it to hit her in the middle of her chest. Her legs rose up out of the water as she fell onto her back, where she lay coughing up foam and broken lung and sucking in water for air until death took her too.

Rae continued to move forward as she diverted the momentum of the mace into a flat spin. She spun, picking up speed as the mace came around before she let go. It arced towards the largest of her attackers as starfire began to rain down all around her. When it struck the ground at the foot of the horned bovine-man, it released all the Holy Energy Rae had imbued it with.

The ground exploded upwards sending shrapnel, rock and dirt up into the Tauren who automatically stepped backwards in an attempt to avoid the blast. He lost concentration as his foot stepped into open air and he fell backwards into a storm hole behind him. He knew it was there, but he had not considered it worth bothering about when they sprang this trap on the almost naked and defenseless girl swimming in the river. His last thought before darkness took him was of his carelessness which had caused his defeat.

A loud booming sound like the breaking of stone sounded from the hole as Darkwind fell. Then Rae turned towards the last standing member of this one-time raiding party. They stared at each other for but a second before he turned and ran as fast as his feet could carry him.

The glow of her Amulet pulsed twice before it slipped back into darkness and her armor disappeared along with its glow while she watched the undead thing running until he remembered how to meld into the shadows around him.

She stood there for a moment longer, just stood there, before she realized just how exposed she was, defensively as well as physically. "No time for niceties", she muttered as she gathered up her things. She dumped her clothes into the curve of her Plate Chest armor and hugged the bundle to her bare chest. She paused long enough to tuck Moonlight into the crook of her arm before she ran towards camp and the safety of the others there.

* * *

It was that time of the evening when most people were indoors with their families eating, or tucking little children into bed, or warning older ones to be back by curfew or else. That lazy time of day when the work is finished but the sun has not yet set.

Sharra, sitting on the porch in her favorite chair with her mending spread out on her lap, gasped. She had felt it again … a pulsing, a thrum, a far off rolling thunder like the beating of a heart within the folds of the Emerald Dream. She had felt it before while she had served with Romulus, then not again until just a couple months ago. This time it was much stronger, much … nearer? "Loo, I believe it is time to finish our preparations in the cellar."

Loo looked up immediately from the delicate inlay work he was doing to casually look about. Nothing moved on the water, no one was walking the paths. Even the breeze had slackened enough so that the leaves remaining on the trees barely moved. There was nothing casual about his eyes though, just his movements, as he noted where every tree, shrub and chicken was within his sight. Even on the part of the lake he could see from his chair there were no boats gliding across the placid waters. He could smell the acrid smoke from a coal fire, probably from the Smithy, and the clean scent from the lake. Sharra was not given to scaring easily, so when she referenced the hidden shelter for no reason …

"No dear, it is not here yet. But it comes, dear heart. It comes."

"Should I go out and find Sarafeena?" Loo was always the practical one.

She shook her head. "No, she's already beyond it by now. I only hope if they encounter each other, the White Mother will shield Sara and keep her safe, or show her a way of escape."

* * *

Tucked into the crook of her arm, her Ranseur seemed to be pointing the way as she ran in and out of the shadows cast by the setting sun until she tripped on a root that broke even as it snagged her foot. Her bundle exploded outwards before her as she stretched out her arms to stop herself from hitting the ground.

She spent a moment just laying there half buried in the bracken and her own clothes catching her breath. The smell of lilacs filled this glade which made her giggle at the thought of how nice it would be if that smell were in her clothes once she collected them up again. She was shaking from the adrenaline still in her system when she thought she heard the snap of a twig and steps coming closer.

As she looked up she saw a white haired man dressed in red armor advancing towards her. He turned his head just enough so he would not look directly at her as he dropped his shield and then undid the clasp of the cloak from about his neck which he then used to cover her.

The man retrieved his Shield and turned away from her as if to stand guard. The hood of his cloak settled over her head covering most of her white hair as she sat up. She wrapped the cloak about her and just stared at him until he noticed and spoke to her in a language she did not quite understand. His voice was like sparkling crystal to her ears, she could listen to him babbling for days on end. His motions seemed to suggest that he would protect her as she dressed. He then bowed his head to her, "Ishnu'alah sa weni." then smiled as he turned to face away from her.

Hugging the cloak as best she could about her, she began to crawl through her scattered clothes and picked out the most delicate items while trying to keep her eyes on this man. She faced away from him while she knotted the ties of her chest protectors before turning them around on her body. She looked backwards under her raised arm as she reached behind her head to tie the support straps. This man of honor was not peeking.

After pulling on her leggings she stood, allowing the cloak to drop as she raised her shirt over her head and pulled it down about her. Then she turned and got a better look at this gentleman.

He looked like the Night Elves she had seen at the Cathedral, but more her height instead of towering over everyone else. His red armor was decorated with silver and gold accents and black stripes on his forearm. He carried a shield she thought may be much stronger than it looked. It was wreathed in the same kind of blood red aura her Renseur had released when it had accepted her as its new mistress. Could this beautiful and honorable man belong to the Blood Elves?

As if on cue, she heard her named being called through the gathering gloom. Anna was looking for her like a big sister who shows up when something interesting might happen. The warrior drew his sword as he turned to the direction the call came from and spoke something obviously meant to be a warning. Rae came up behind him and wraped her arms about his neck as she tied his cloak in place. His smell was almost intoxicating.

The man started slightly but held his ground facing the approaching enemy he knew. He spoke again in that beautiful language full of his very own rich accent. This time his voice was colored with concern. No doubt he was telling her they needed to leave quickly.

"They are looking for me." Rae whispered into his ear.

Instantly, he pivoted about to look at her more closely. He lowered his gaze to the emblem of the Silver Hand on her left shoulder plate just as she saw the Emblem of the Blood Knights on his shoulder and the four black stripes on his sleeve.

His eyes turned to surprise then shifted quickly to look once again at Raes' weapon still lying where it had fallen a few feet away. Then he looked back at Rae again. They both understood what had just happened as he spoke a soft comment. Even when he swore, it sounded rich and wonderful.

Rae took a step forward, placing her open palm on his chest, over his heart, and stared deeply into the eyes of this gentleman for a moment, before she lightly kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you", she whispered.

The voices were getting closer now and Rae did not want this gentleman to be compromised. So she motioned for him to leave while she backed to where her weapons lay.

"Anna? Anna! Is that you?"

"GREYSON! SHE'S OVER THIS WAY!"

The man nodded to her again and moved off in a direction away from the voices.

"I'm over here!" She yelled as she picked up her weapons, "I've been lost for hours!"

Rae looked wistfully in the direction of her protector as he turned back to look at her.

"Hysal", the man whispered and pointed at his chest.

"Rae" she whispered back and smiled. He nodded once more before he disappeared into the thickening darkness of the forest.


	18. Chapter 18

Darkwind awoke with a start. His head hurt in the most awful way, but he believed he was otherwise undamaged. He looked about for either his adversary or his friends before climbing out of the hole. The twins were right where they had fallen but Sookie was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing else to do but begin the Ritual of Redemption.

Maladay revived successfully. Fairaday did not. Darkwind had always wondered about the life force that motivated an undead. He had contemplated many aspects of 'LIFE' thanks to his knowing Sookie. Today he wondered if sometimes the Undead just dissolved where they finally 'died'.

Maladay's wailing lament made him try more times than he would have … with no luck. She cried long after they buried him and started their travel back to the invasion camp. Mixed amongst her sobs were oaths and promises of deaths that even Darkwind wished upon no one.

Maybe the words inscribed upon the handle of that mace were a curse after all. It had taken him almost no time at all to decipher it, but the words had worried him even then. The first part, 'Show kindness to all,' had started just under the head and was lost forever now. All that could be read when he found the shaft was the second admonition, 'Vengeance belongs to The Light'.

Hours later, they were passing by the Century guards as the pre-dawn skies began to lighten slightly. They recognized Hunters and their companions while wending their way into the Invasion Camp. Each Hunter was fully capable of hitting any target with gun or bow while mounted or standing. The next ring of guards was populated by the newest trainees of sword and board who could hold their own at least long enough to warn the camp.

They turned the corner of the path and saw the vale below covered with the campfires of the waking army and Stonewatch Keep on the high cliffs overlooking Everstill Lake.

Each guard saluted him as they were recognized and allowed to pass, that was his due. But they continued to stare at him until he became concerned as they moved towards the tent of the Captain of the Guard to report their battle, and their losses.

The Captain was waiting for him as they stepped under the pavilion. "So, the great Darkwind truly has been bested in battle. Tell me, how many Champions of the Humans remain for us to fight, or did you slaughter them all?"

Darkwind stopped and looked about at all those gathered under this tent. Then one of them reached up and tapped his skull. Suddenly, Darkwind understood his headache.

He reached up and felt the broken stub that was all that was left of his horn on that side.

"HE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW!" The tent erupted in cruel laughter at his discovery. "What does the other guy look like?" "How many of them were there?" The questions were fired at him too fast to answer. "Do you have a souvenir of him also?" The leader of the Blood Guard contingent came to add his own question at the pavilion when he too had received word of the opening confrontation of this war. As the jesting became louder he paused in his own laughter to try and keep track of the questions, but could not.

"I didn't get a good look at our attackers," he lied, "so I don't know how many they were or what they looked like. Had I not laid down and allowed myself to be humiliated you all would be under siege by now and our month of stealth, spoiled."

"The great Darkwind, ALLOWED himself to be humiliated? HA ha ha ha."

"I'll kill her I tell ya, she's dead meat ever I find her again!" Fairaday vowed quietly, but not so quiet that she was not heard as she sat in the dust drawing incantation circles.

"A GIRL? YOU WERE BESTED BY A GIRL?" The laughter was even louder than before if that was possible. The usual crowd was becoming a great throng as others gathered around the tent.

Darkwind nodded. "Yes." As the laughter erupted, he decided he may as well tell it now or forever be correcting rumors. "Fairaday, her brother, was in high spirits. He had taken a mace from a man the day before and now he wanted to 'play' with this girl we found bathing in the river."

"He wanted to play Patty Cake maybe?" called out someone. "I know, he was gonna play house," cried another. "Whorehouse!" several chorused together into the growing laughter.

Darkwind ignored the comments and continued, "Sookie, my shadow stalker, went to our left to flank the swimming hole." The throng quickly quieted to hear this tale. "I waited till the girl was beginning to get out before springing our attack. It turned out she was a highly trained Paladin. My Entangle Spell had just started to form when she protected herself with a Paladins' cheat that defeated it. But still she was trapped inside her own bubble.

"Fairaday jumped into the river to attack, timing his swing with the failing of the Paladins' shield, but she was faster than he. In a flash that blinded us all for a moment, for it was nearing dark, she not only attacked Fairaday but also disarmed him and somehow donned her armor and climbed the opposite bank.

"While we were focused on the girl, her companions sprang upon us. Their attack was so swift and fierce we never saw them. In a heartbeat, Maladay also fell. I cast my starfire, but they protected the girl well, and I was overcome, lost for a time in the Emerald Nightmare.

"I do not know why they did not kill me, but when I fought free and finally awoke it was to the silence of the grave. I searched for my enemies, then for my traveling companions. Fairaday and Maladay I found right where they fell. Sookie was nowhere to be found and failed to respond to the form-up signal. I believe he is either a prisoner or lost forever as only an Undead may be. Fairaday failed to revive."

As if her brothers' name was a trigger, the tortured woman spoke up again. "I'll kill her, I'll tear her chest open and rip her heart out and feed it to her while she still lives, that human with a Ranseur." Maladay was looking intently at her clenched fists as if she were squeezing the heart at that moment.

'… that Human with a Ranseur …'

The Blood Guard Centurion stopped laughing as the smile on his face also slowly died. Maladays' words rung in his ears,

'… that Human with a Ranseur …'

A face swam before his vision, a white haired woman with depthless blue eyes and the sweet smell of lilacs filled his memory again.

His concentration was broken as a hand firmly grabbed his elbow, "Come, I see him near the Chieftains' tent. I will be avenged quicker than that wretched Troll." The Blood Elf woman holding onto Hysals' elbow moved effortlessly out from the heckling crowd. She was dressed all in black as she should be when issuing a challenge out of respect for the soon to be deceased. She unfurled the Red Tabard of Revenge, her challenge banner, as she walked into the clearing before the Chieftains' tent.

When she entered the circle around the bonfire she planted the banner, "I am Eno'Larae, of the Warsong Saints, I call you out, Zoifon of the Espada, to answer for the insult your Guild has given me and mine. Come out and fight like a man, or die like a dog where you stand."

Zoifon hardly waited for the formality of the challenge to be finished before he was laughing. "You are a joke, La'Plae. Go play with your dolls instead!" Zoifon raised a rude gesture before turning to enter the tent.

"I will have payment, Zoifon, here and now!" Eno unslung Marrowmar from across her back as a low gravelly voice issued from the Chieftains' tent.

"What do my ears hear? There is a challenge issued in the traditional form, ignored?" a large Orc in Battlemaster gear suddenly filled the doorway as Zoifon backed away from the entrance and then moved to the side of the door where he stood straight while smirking at the Elf who had the gall to challenge him.

Larae used her Polearm to point at Zoifon, "Your Excellency, his Guild has insulted me. I was contracted to do a job, and performed it until our party had fought to our goal. Then, with the target of our quest in sight, Lothrik of Espada, who contracted me, refused to allow me to continue. Other members of Espada appeared, summoned into our mustering hole to replace me and another with me. I performed my duty as contracted; they owe me a kill, gold for repairs, and the honor they stole from me."

"Is this true?" Gath'Ilzogg was not one to have ever backed down from any fight, "Did your guild hire her to do a job and then refuse to pay her?"

"I did no such thing. Lothrik, a member of my guild in good standing may have hired her, but not me."

"Did he replace her as she said, with others of your guild?"

Zoifon did not like these questions, "So what if he did? Lothrik called for help against an enemy. He decided she could not fulfill the contract so excused her and replaced her and another in his party with others from my guild."

"Tell me about your hiring; what was your part in this contract?"

"My duty was to fight to the target, then to stun the mark, once, to keep him from transforming into a powerful beast so I and the others hired could more easily kill him."

"So, Lothrik felt you to be unable to perform the duty you were hired for. Why do you believe you could have done this job?"

"My lord, I am a Blood Elf of the House of Quelus, a Champion of the Warsong Saints and a member of the Blood Guard." Larae called upon her Arcane Torrent ability as she focused her intent on Zoifon. The effect was immediate causing him to become confused and forget even where he stood. "Well able to interrupt any spell casting by the heritage of my birth. I am also an accomplished Paladin." At this she quickly performed the Hammer of Justice movement and Zoifon, still disoriented from her Arcane Torrent attack, fell to his knees retching out his stomach until it was empty. "A stun is an easy task for a Blood Elf, and as a Paladin I am able to perform such a simple task as I was contracted to do, twice, even with half my training and experiences. As for my fighting ability, my weapon should speak to that concern." Larae held forth Marrowmar.

"I owe you nothing!" Zoifon screamed from the ground when he was able to catch his breath. He was wiping his mouth as he fought to get up. "Go talk to Lothrik. If anyone owes you, he does. And good luck getting anything from that worthless lout." He turned to Gath'Ilzogg, "I have removed him from my guild, so you see, she has no claim on us." Once again he turned a sneer towards Larae, "Now leave, I have important matters to attend to for my lord."

Gath'Ilzogg looked at Larae, then at the Guild Master of the Espada. Slowly a deep grinding sound that passed for the quiet laughter of the large Battlemaster grew deep in his throat. "First he is a member of your Guild in good standing, now he is a lowlife lout and has been removed. First this Elf is a joke, now I see you are. Zoifon, I have nothing worthy of you or your Guilds … abilities … at this time. Nor of any who would follow your leadership." He then turned to his guards, "If he chooses not to settle this with some semblance of honor as any member of the Horde should, filet him and fill his skin with slugs, but do not kill him too fast, and do not let him back into my sight tonight."

The Orc Commander saluted his superior and then purposefully turned to face Zoifon as Gath'Ilzogg turned and went back into the tent. "Now, we were discussing the placement of ballista on the southern cliffs of the lake …"

Larae sneered as she leveled her Polearm, resting its tip on Zoifons' breastplate. "Shall we dance? You and I? Or are you willing to hear my terms now?"

Zoifon looked down at the tip of Marrowmar where it rested upon his breastplate. As Larae pushed it lightly against his plate armor, a cut of metal curled off the surface with the tips advance. "What are your terms, then I will decide."

"Twenty Gold will cover my repairs from the aborted quest. And your Guild comes to my aid should I call for the next ninety days."

"You should be asking Lothrik for the gold, not me."

"Had he replaced me with just anyone, I would have. But since he chose to keep it in YOUR Guild …" She leaned closer to him, "Will you accept? Or shall we dance?"

Zoifon looked at Eno for a few moments.

"I see it in your eyes, Troll. You are saying to yourself, 'I have boots older than she, I can best her with any of the tricks I have learned over my years.' But you forget, we Blood Elves look young long into our lives. I have trinkets left at my home older than you. Are you sure you wish to take the risk I am just some snippety upstart? A noob?" She narrowed her eyes, "I live to die."

"You said you had just completed your training, you can't be that old." Zoifon was hesitant in his response, but would never admit he was also unsure in a duel against her.

"My Lord Hysal, please remind him how long we Elves of the Blood Guard train in our Arts of War."

All eyes were on him as he casually answered, "A full hundred years is the usual training period. And almost always includes a minimum of three campaigns to test skills."

Zoifons' eyes widened slightly. Larae merely nodded while her steely gaze bored holes into him.

Suddenly he stepped back, causing Larae to rebalance her stance and draw Marrowmar back for a good thrust. "Wait." He pulled out a coin purse from under his belt, "I will tell my Guild to assist you if you call, but only for as long as we are attacking from this valley."

Larae balanced Marrowmar on her right forearm and held her other hand out, "Agreed."

After he counted the gold into her hand he sneered, "We are settled then. Ishnu'alah."

As they walked away, Hysal asked in a whisper, "So, you left my sisters battle trinkets at home after all?"

Larae simply nodded as she pocketed the gold pieces.

"And should I continue to keep to myself that you have only completed the first cycle of training?"

Larae looked back at Zoifon who was bolstering his ego by berating his recruitment officer, "I believe that would be prudent, yes."

Hysal would have enjoyed this more if he was not still thinking about that remark from Darkwinds' tracker. He heard the comment again as if it was being whispered in his ears, … 'that Human with a Ranseur' …

It had to be the Human woman he had guarded while she clothed herself. She was running up from behind him when, hearing her steps in the bracken, he turned. The smell of lilacs was so strong in that glade he could not have smelled a pile of offal if it was still steaming at his feet.

Even as he turned, she tripped. He saw her Ranseur fly out from the bundle she was carrying and assumed she was a recent replacement who had snuck off for a bath or some other rendezvous. Her head was obscured as the leaves and her clothes flew out like an explosion. The Ranseur lay where it fell, its tip wedged into the roots of a tree. Something about her struck his heart even though he could not clearly see her. Had he known she was the enemy, he would have killed her then and there. Or he could have easily taken her captive before her friends … Why had he not taken her prisoner? Why could he only truly remember her eyes now that he tried to picture her? Her eyes were the deepest blue he had ever looked into. It was like trying to fathom the depth of ice on a frozen pond by looking through it.

Rae, she said her name was Rae.


	19. Chapter 19

Hysals' duties that day included the posting of the Blood Guard. Every commissioned reinforcement officer brought their own letter of recommendation outlining their training and abilities. Each letter had to be read to discover the messages hidden in the text. One had such a glowing report that it was read by each Captain before it was acted upon.

The evening was well advanced as Hysal came back into the area assigned to the Blood Guard. He saw that Larae was already performing her story of the knights' adventure. She had changed into for this evening. The firelight playing upon her Sanguine Robe seemed to highlight its blood red color in ways that made it come alive and set the mood for the tale being told. Eno paced and gestured with her Ranseur alternately using the fire pit as her backdrop or story prop. Her white hair had been set free of its usual restraints giving her an even more youthful look as it cascaded to the middle of her back or swung about behind her in her gestures.

"_Shall we dance, you and I?  
__Or hear my terms, before you die?  
__He stood there shaking in anger_

"_Your terms I will hear, then I'll decide.  
__His surly voice made his reply.  
__I readied my Polearm for danger._

"_20 Gold and a promise from your Guild,  
__To serve should I call, and you'll not be killed.  
__I placed Marrowmar upon his chest_

"_It's too much to ask, I'll pay not your request.  
__Instead I'm sure it is you I shall best.  
__We looked at each other East to West._

"_You think I cannot win. I see it in your sight.  
__I have trained all my life to be a Blood Knight.  
__Try me and see … I live to die._

"_Zoifon paid.  
__He lives one more day.  
__He ate humble pie."_

Eno curtseyed to her listeners and they in response quietly applauded her story. A couple got up and passed a piece of largess to her along with a private word of appreciation before moving off to enjoy their own diversions.

One of those assigned to the meal this night handed Hysal a plate of food. "We saved you this. I hope it is still warm enough to eat easily."

Hysal nodded as he accepted the plate, "Your cooking is always easy to eat." He stood at the end of the serving line looking for a place to sit.

"Go on, you know she has saved you a place. Bread too I believe." Hysal smiled at the parting remarks from the cook.

"The bread alone makes her worth finding."

"Just the bread? Will you be so easily pleased tonight?" Hysal turned to face his cousin, "Or maybe there is someone else occupying your … thoughts?" Eno was standing next to a table. She was obviously waiting for him to take the offered seat.

Hysal knew what Enola meant, but no one would be waiting for him in his tent tonight. As he thought this, a memory of a pair of depthless eyes swam before his minds' eye.

"I'm sorry. I did not know Tala's death was still so close to your heart. It has been years since … I apologize."

He set his plate down and held the seat for Enola to also sit before he too sat down to his meal. "You need to work on that last phrase if you wish to enter it into the Bardic this month."

Eno poured the table wine for both of them and then relaxed deep into her chair sipping hers. She watched him as he ate, while he watched and listened to the others presenting their rhymes, skits and songs. Never once did he smile. Instead he stared off into the distance even when he faced the performers. She waited until he was half through his meal before pressing her question. "Who has you so distracted?"

A call from the campfire drew their attention, "HYSAL, come, recite one of your own." "Yes! Stop being so reclusive and come share your heart with us oh Master of the Bardic Circle."

Hysal put down his fork then rose from his seat while grabbing his mug. This would be easier than answering her question. He approached the fire to the cheers and applause of the crowd. Then the crowd became silent as he collected his thoughts and began.

You understand what I say, which makes me happy  
How my heart burns to love  
and be loved by you.  
It makes me cry to know your heart is so much like mine.

I used to walk near the edge, to feel the way you make me feel  
Now when you give me love,  
I do not fear to fall.  
As I learn to love, I do not fear at all.

You understand what I say, which makes me sad  
The tribulations you must have lived through,  
to see the world as I do  
It makes me cry to know your heart is so much like mine.

I used to swim near the shore, afraid of the oceans' roar  
Now I swim over the deep,  
to the very edge of the world  
Unafraid of the love you bring me, unafraid at all.

You understand what I say, that fills me with wonder  
As I look into your eyes the rain begins to fall,  
the teardrops fall  
It makes me cry to know your heart is so much like mine.

Nothing so wonderful has ever looked into my eyes  
Nothing so beautiful has ever stood  
so close to me  
With so much love and kindness in your heart

How my heart yearns to care for you, to honor you in so many ways  
That Kings will blush and Queens dream of being you,  
to be you.  
You understand what I say, I love you.

One of his Captains came forward as he was leaving and shared some of her mead, then another and another until his mug was full. He sat down while the circle was still quiet, still savoring the feelings.

"A new piece? Someone has finally pierced the armor around your heart." Enola reclined languidly in the chair she had positioned next to where Hysal partook of his dinner.

Hysal avoided Larae's question a moment longer, remembering those eyes as he allowed the others to turn their attention to the next performer.

Larae stared at him expecting an answer. He looked up at the moon as it finally cleared the tall trees surrounding the campsite, "That armor has broken." Hysal looked at the nearly full moon overhead for a full minute before speaking again, "Remember the Troll with Darkwind?"

Larae nodded, her eyes sparkling as she envisioned some of the deaths promised by the deranged Troll.

Hysal sipped from his mug before continuing. He grimaced involuntarily as he swallowed; the mix of meads and wines shared as a token of appreciation from many of the audience was a little too dry for his taste. "I too ran into her, the Human with the Ranseur."

"Then she is dead. The Troll will hunt her for the rest of her life and find no one to take her vengeance upon." Larae smiled, "How sweet of you not to tell her."

Hysal smiled too. Sometimes Eno's version of gallows humor seemed to hide insights he would rather not admit himself. "We were both very much alive when we parted."

Eno sat straight up in her chair and forgot her drink. To leave a mortally wounded foe in agony upon the field of battle was one thing, but to leave an adversary unfought?

"You have been assigned to be my assistant and student in all disciplines while on this campaign." Hysal spoke softly in their native Thalassian tongue. "This will require you to not only be able to follow my directives explicitly, but also to act independently in my interests. The letter you carried outlined none of your special training. It only stated you had completed the Junior Officers Training early."

"You must have the experience to gain the stripes. However, this one," Hysal took one of his stripes off his sleeve and handed it to her, "is to give you the authority to perform the duties and responsibilities I will assign to you. Do not use it openly if you can avoid it. My last Captain died as he was still boasting about his promotion."

Eno accepted the insignia placing it to her forehead, then to her lips and finally to her breast, over her heart, before tucking it into her sleeve pocket. The action pleased Hysal for it showed him Larae was accepting the rank in her thought, word and heart. It was a gesture from the ancient past of their race, from before the Lady Azshara discovered the secret of the Well of Eternity and the energies she served even now in death.

"You are to answer to me directly in all matters, even if someone else orders you about. And others will order you. My first order to you must be followed even if it means your death. And what I am about to tell you, must remain a secret between us only."

Eno nodded.

Hysal took a deep breath, "The Elders sent me on another mission of utmost importance before I joined myself to this campaign. A Champion has arisen of unknown powers. I was sent to scour the lands and find her if she could be found between the Sun River, and this valley."

"Her?"

"... I believe I have found the Champion they seek."


	20. Chapter 20

Rae seemed to be in a trance all evening. By the time she remembered Sholamon could translate any language in this land, her gentleman knight was long gone and she was back in camp having to deal with not having any more campfires.

Rae had the first watch tonight and had decided to sit on the edge of a stone outcropping above the camp. But instead of watching for trouble, all she could do was think about her ordeal, her mortality, her knight. She had thought this life was all a dream when she first arrived, but then she entered the Cathedral and had to sit through all those lectures until she was so bored she grabbed a full fingers worth of her underarm and pinched herself hard. It hurt so much she startled the entire class with her reaction, but the dream didn't change and she didn't wake up. The bruise was so deep she could still see it in a strong enough light. Now as she considered it, she realized she could have died in that fight. Which brought her back to thinking of the man who did not try to take advantage of her, who had stood guard over her to keep her safe.

Suddenly Anna touched her arm.

"You look asleep on your feet. Go to bed. I'll take the rest of this watch."

She exhaled and nodded before turning towards their tent.

The next day was little better. Sammuel had just confided in Anna his feelings about following a leader who had yet to be tried in battle, especially if she could not keep her mind on the tasks at hand when Wilhelm, closing the gap from his position in the rear, chose a different tact towards finding out what so preoccupied their teacher. "I've seen this kind of action before. She's in love. Whom did you go to meet out there in the forest?"

"I told you last night. I decided to take a bath when I was attacked. I fought back, first a pair of twins with long curved tusks you called Trolls, neither of them walked away. Then a Bovine-man I would have called a Minotaur but you called a Taurus?"

"Tauran."

"A Tauran then. I did not see it walk away either. Finally an undead ran off without fighting me and disappeared into the trees.

"But you did not go and see if the Tauran was dead, did you."

"No, I was still exposed from my swim. I grabbed my clothes and armor and ran."

"And yet, you were fully clothed when we caught up with you, and not that far from the river." Greyson pointed out.

"Well, yes. I wasn't going to run all the way to Grand Hamlet naked or even just back to camp, if I knew which way either one was. I stopped when I tripped and that is where I got dressed. In a clearing filled with Lilacs"

"And you were guarded while you dressed by an Elf named Hysal?"

"Precisely."

"Why didn't he stay with you then?"

"I don't know. He had somewhere else to be I guess. I really couldn't understand him so I don't know why he left or where he went to."

"My friend," Anna interjected, "I studied with the Quel'dorei who live in Darnassus. They speak their own language as well as Common. They can make themselves as easily understood as our Huntress Sarafeena."

"Well then, he was a different kind of Elf, what is so hard to understand about that?"

"Nothing…" Sarafeena had just come out of the dense underbrush walking as quietly as Pandorii who padded by her side. She had only been told that Rae had a scattered memory from a blow to her head some months before. So she did her best to cope with this one Human not knowing some of the most mundane things. She found it difficult to keep the slur from her speech that was usual when a Night Elf spoke Common, especially when mixing in words that were Elvan in origin. She was better at it than other Night Elves since she had lived most of her life now in the East Kingdom, ever since she began her exile of shame from Darnassas.

"Except that the only different Elf you may find here would be from Silvermoon City." Sarafeena continued, "They are the Sin'dorei, which means 'Of the High City'. They have aligned themselves with the Orcs, once of Dranor, and the other Horde Tribes. He would have been a Blood Knight and maybe carried a weapon such as a triangular shield or a Warblade very much like yours. Or a long Pike dripping with a red aura that poisons Knights of the Silver Hand and others who are fighting along with the Kingdom of Azeroth … like we."

"He did carry a shield and sword, but he didn't act like an enemy. He looked very much like you. Between your height and mine, skin color was more like mine than yours. He showed me nothing but honor, and respect, and never once did he threaten me in any way."

"We are very much the same peoples now for we were once the same people long ago, The Kaldorei. Before Zin-Azshari was built upon the western wall of the Well of Eternity; Before the High Elf Queen, Azshara, forsook the teachings of Cenarius that our ancestors vowed to uphold, and drew her power instead directly from the resonances of power filling the Well which became more and more imbalanced as the Ancients drew more power from it.

That is how they were corrupted, by the lure of such power. And, we are taught, their downfall came because of the imbalance it created. She and all those who followed her began to be as imbalanced as the power they drew upon until the Well of Eternity became so imbalanced it exploded and sundered the minds of all who drew their magical strength from those fell energies within it. The well became a much smaller echo of itself which exists to this day. And the Sin'dorei became homeless gypsies damned to be forever more bound to it, forever more its imbalanced servants, forever more searching for a place to belong." Sarafeena did not believe the profacy of how they may become redeemed some day by the Light.

"Isn't that the way we are also?" Rae asked after a moment's consideration. "We serve the Light, or we use it for our own purposes. Or, in the name of the Cathedral, King or the Light, we do both? Don't we use the power of the Light to reinforce our beliefs, our own individual interpretations of what is right or wrong instead of becoming sensetive enough to it that we learn about what the Light considers right, and fight what the Light considers wrong?"

The group rode along silently for a while wrapped in their thoughts. That is why they heard the sound before they exited the forest.

"What is that sound?"

"Battle, Rae." For the first time since she had met him Sammuel had no smile hidden in his eyes or joke on his lips. "It is not a sound you will ever forget now that you have heard it."

Blessings were passed about and Seals were set in place as they paused just under the cover of the trees to assess the battle. They were just come to the edge of the forest before the Ford at Three Corners when they first saw the battle they had already heard. Sarafeena was now astride her beloved Pandorii and had moved to the center of the diamond formation the Paladins formed as they had made ready.

Suddenly Greyson raised himself in his stirrups, "The king! Do you see him? The king! He is cut off and surrounded!" With no more thought he loosed his lance from its' sheathe and spurred his mount into a gallop. The others followed without even a moment's hesitation.

* * *

"MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" The Blood Elves attacked in a fast running wave. Their objective was to take the Lake Everstill Bridge and hold it while the catapults and other ballista were wheeled in place on the ridge across the lake from Lakeshire. Hysal led his group to the heart of the span before encountering the guards that rushed from the other end.

The Undead were to capture the Flight Master and her Gryphons, or kill them, but the Flight Master was too quick for those shambling horrors. When she saw the first attacks on the bridge guards, she turned and cut the teather that bound the great birds to the earth before leaping onto the eldest Gryphon and flying high into the skies.

As the Blood Knights spearheaded the assault on the bridge, the Blackrock Orcs, the backbone of the assault, moved the ballista in place. Whoever was not assigned a specific task was to be a part of the wave of fighters that was to close around Lakeshire like the jaws of a ravenous wolf. Then word came of a boy and his wolf that escaped. He had evidently begun to hearth out just as the attack force broke cover so was gone by the time they were within range to stop him. Three heads were collected for that error, and now half the Orc force was building defenses on the road to the west.

The army of Azeroth had mustered quickly as the call to arms was sent out to all the Kingdoms. The Dwarves of Ironforge not only sent a sizable force to Stormwind utilizing the new Tram system, but also materials and arms as well as Master Crafters for making more. But any army of the size forming in Stormwind would not form quickly or without notice. A contingent was sent ahead as soon as a balanced party could be formed. Along with this initial force went the King and his Elite Guards.

It took two more days before the main army was formed into a marching column. The force moved out through Goldshire where they were met by a company coming in from the Westbrook Garrison, then onward through Northern Elwynn Forest, following the main road towards Lakeshire and the Redridge Mountains. It took two more days for the force to arrive at Eastvale Logging Camp where they prepared for the first assault on Three Corners. By that time the advance troops had been fighting for three days.

The Horde defensive held back the first attempt to liberate Lakeshire. It was during the heaviest fighting in the second drive that Rae and her contingent of Knights arrived from Grand Hamlet unknowing of the war that had begun.

Shouting as one the formation leapt from their cover and raced to the assistance of the king. With lances lowered, the weight of their horse and armor rammed through the crowding Horde, and in a brief space penetrated to the side of King Wrynn. Just as they reached him, a Blood Elf Assassin who had been shadow walking, crawled beneath the noble charger of King Wrynn and drove poison laden daggers deep into its bowels. The animal reared high in its sudden pain, and then fell pinning the king, who was unable to disengage himself quickly enough. In an instant Sammuel had leaped from his horse and with his long triangular Kreigers Shield extended, barely succeeded in covering the king from the Assassin's blades. Anna imitated her friend except she used her shield to slam her chosen opponent and clear a space to fight in. For a moment or two the sweep of Wilhelm's heavy ax and Greyson's circling sword kept back the foes. Rae, her Amulet dark, focused all her energies on maintaining the health of the King and her friends while Sara, who had ridden in on Pandorii, loosed arrows into targets in all directions.

King Wrynn in vain strove to extricate his leg from beneath his fallen steed. Sara saw at a glance that the horse still lived, and with a sudden turn she released an arrow into the mount's hind quarter. Goaded by the pain, the noble animal made a last effort to rise, only to fall back dead. The momentary action was, however, sufficient for King Wrynn, who drew his leg from under it and with his heavy battle-ax in hand, rose with a shout and stood into the opening made for him behind Sammuel and Annaralia.

In vain did the Hordes strive to cut down and overpower the champions; in vain did they urge their horses to ride over them. With each sweep of his ax the King either dismounted a foe or clove in the head of his steed. Still the Horde pushed in until a wall of slain around them testified to the tremendous power of their arms. But this could not last as the King was bleeding from some severe gashes. Rae slipped upon the gore they all stood in, when a mighty roar as the rushing of a thousand winds was heard.

Off to their left a Shadow Mage was conjuring a death spell that would kill everyone within its target area old enough to die. He was just beginning to lift his arms to throw the spell when Greyson broke free of his opponent and cast his Holy Shock at the Mage. While the damage was slight, the concentration of the Mage was broken and the funnel that had risen up above him began to teeter.

Sweat broke out on his brow as he wrestled with the Death Funnel, "I've got it, I've got it … Oh SH…" As the funnel dropped down over him, the top broke apart spreading its volume outward. The headless corpse that was sacrificed to provide the blood for this creation was also picked up into the spinning vortex. First to die was the Mage, twisted into a spiral and screaming until all the air was squeezed out of him. Even as his circle of guardians began to run, the top of the cyclone dropped over them and a greater amount of the warriors who had formed up on the same hillock to attack in its wake. The lucky ones were beheaded or otherwise killed by the weapons that were swept into the swirling cloud. Every living being it fell upon and a few just outside the obvious area of the cloud was quickly swept into its vortex and twisted together into a screaming mass of gore. Then they were literally torn apart until the cloud was red from the blood of its victims before it finally collapsed completely.

The roar that had grown as this murderous cloud consumed its victims was suddenly silenced until this too was shattered by a shout of "AZEROTH!", and a body of Royal Guard clove through the throng of stunned Horde to reach the side of King Wrynn. Close behind these in a mass pressed the Stormwind Regulars with bill and pike, the enemy giving way foot by foot before their steady discipline.

The king was soon on horseback again and, rallying his troops, led them for one more great and final charge upon the enemy. The effect was irresistible. Appalled by the slaughter which they had suffered, and by the tremendous strength and energy of the Knights, the Horde broke and fled; and the last reserves of Orcs Gath'Ilzogg brought to the battle only served to defend the soldiers retreat as the King, shouting his war-cry, fell upon them.

The Alliance was now inspired with such courage and confidence that they readily obeyed the king's war-cry and, gathered in a firm body, hurled their selves upon this new foe. The Horde finally fell back to their fortified positions on the eastern edge of Three Corners, and the days' fighting was over.


	21. Chapter 21

"I can't summon her out." The Gnome had been trying and trying until sweat soaked her back down to her waist and she could barely hold her arms up long enough to finish her last summoning attempt.

The apparition of a beautiful woman coalesced from the tendrils of smoke all about them, "Chromie, you must return her to her own place. The objective has been achieved, the King has been saved and the future Alliance will be formed. She cannot be allowed to corrupt the time flow now."

"I know all this." Chromie was tired which made her sound a little cross as well. "Yet I cannot retrieve her. There is something interfering."

A Wisp looking like a small globe of glowing gases began to pulse as it changed direction and floated towards them. It was one of several in this area of the Emerald Dream.

"Nozdormu?"

"No, he gave me the power token he created when he took control over this cell in time."

"Then how?"

"How, indeed." A diaphanous vapor quickly formed as the Wisp appeared to melt and take on the form of a Blood Elf. "Maybe it is some greater force, maybe Destiny."

Chromie turned towards the mist and knelt even as the apparition knelt next to her.

"This nexus has taken on a life of its own. Even now it extends well beyond even your years. No matter what happens in this time, when this mission is over we will never be able to recreate it. That is why you no longer have any power over our Champion. I am hopeful," The Lady Elune momentarily showed herself in the mist before it dissipated, "that this time, …" Had they been looking up at her, they would have seen the tear rolling down Elunes' cheek, "… this time my children will choose wisely. Or," as the mist disappeared, so did the White Lady, until her voice was nothing more substantial than the smell of lilacs on a mid-summers nights' breeze, "not even I will be able to help them again."

* * *

"Swindlegrin, ah should'a known." Bron Ironbrand was shackled to a ring set high on a wall in the shack they called the office. He had been there now most of the day. No one had come into the office since he was hung here like a hunters' prize, until now.

"Please, call me Nate. Old friends like us should be on a first name basis, hey Bron?" He was short and clean shaven. Not that he needed to shave, his chin would not support more than a few hairs at a time. Some said he was a direct descendant of Gnomes, others thought he was more related to the Goblins. Either way, he was vile and cruel, thinking more of his own riches, wants and desires than of anyone else. He had put together a band of cutthroats that could only be described as Pirates.

Bron spit, "Ah'll nay be taken for a friend of yurs Swindlegrin, not now, not ayver."

"Have it your way then. Just tell me where the Tome is and I will be on my way. You will be the wiser, and I'll be the richer."

"Just how is it me giv'n the likes a you tha Tome makes me wiser?"

Swindlegrin thought for a moment then grinned, "Ahh, you have me there. OK then, giving me the Tome will keep you alive longer. Better?"

"If'n ah didn't know ye were a liar, ah might be comforted by that. But since ah be knowin ye so well, ah think ah'll pass."

"Have it your way then. Torture during my meal is good entertainment."

As if on cue, Swindlegrins' personal bodyguard came through the door unslinging his backpack. He righted the overturned table from next to the wall and slung the pack onto it before removing various dishes and utensils and setting them about the table. When he was finished he tossed the pack next to the door and picked up one of the chairs that were scattered about the room to inspect it. When Bron fought his captors, he had had the upper hand until their very numbers brought him down. The bodyguard finally found a chair that seemed sturdy enough and held it while Nate made a great show of sitting down for his dinner.

While this was happening, in came a tall man, his robes flowing and swirling about his ankles. He waited next to the door, casually scanning the interior of the shack until Swindlegrin was seated. Then he proceeded to remove and then shake out his cloak and lay it over the table. Before it had fully settled, he waved his hands and mumbled something unintelligible then quickly pulled the cloak back to reveal a feast.

"Handy to have these blokes with you when the cities are so far away, wouldn't you say Bron? I found this one wandering in the Ice fields of Dragonblight."

"May it turn to dust in your stomach," Bron could already smell the succulent meats that had appeared as if they were woven from the very air.

"If that will be all? I have some sightseeing to do." The Chanter pulled his sleeves back down when he was through to cover the tattoo upon his forearm.

"Sightseeing?! What could you possibly find of interest all the way out here in this mud hole?"

Affecting a look of innocence and spreading his hands wide the Chanter replied, "Why, a pretty girl maybe … who may want some rescuing." He turned his head to each person in the room and smiled, but when he turned to Ironbrand he also winked.

Ironbrand swore with imagination and tried to struggle himself free while Swindlegrin and his bodyguard both broke out in guffaws of laughter. "Very well Merlin, go find yourself a pretty one, and when you are done with her, bring her to me."

"As you wish." The Chanter casually nudged the bodyguard out of his way and walked out into the rain. He paused for a moment while he seemed to be sniffing the air before moving off towards the west side of the camp.

As the bodyguard stood in the open doorway before returning to serve his master, he wondered how Merlin could stay dry in such a downpour.

"Now, where were we … Ahh yes, you were going to tell me the whereabouts of the Tome." The door slowly swung not quite closed upon its still well oiled hinges.

As Brons' cries of pain rang out from behind him, Myrdden felt a wave of power coming from the other end of the compound followed by a womans' hysterical screams. When they stopped suddenly, he felt another wave of power that could only be a use of the Healing Light. He whispered incantations of fortification as he moved with purpose in the direction the emanations and the scream had come.

Seeing the tall man in the long robes pass by, the guards that paced between the ruined tents and the rooms full of artifacts smiled and wondered when their turn with the women would come.

* * *

A storm moved into the area surrounding Three Corners almost as soon as the warring factions disengaged, washing away the blood from the battlefield. On the southern end of the field marking where the fighting was the heaviest was a mound of flesh and bone that slowly dissolved from the effects of the carrion eaters that swarmed it and the few Priests and Paladins who braved the open fields to attempt resurrecting or healing those still there.

Gath'Ilzogg stood under the eves of the forest inspecting the field and the road where the Paladins had come from to save their King. The leader of the party that was supposed to watch that road lay dead at his feet, his head still rolling away from the slight rise they stood on. "Make sure the rest of his contingent are in the first line of the next attack. If any of them lives I want a report on how they survived."

Next to him stood a human Mage dressed in black robes with a simple gold trim. "They must be using agents," he muttered to no one. Morganth was never one who liked failure. After his banishment from the Mage Tower in Stormwind for his studies, he mastered the darker Shadow Arts including the Blood Rights that were banned by the Council of Mages that sits in Stormwind. Now his plan to return to Stormwind as its master was finally under way only to have his first prize, the King of Azeroth, taken from him at the last moment by a traveling band of unknighted Paladins.

Singe, a Black Dragon Whelp who had first shown up shortly after Morganth took Stonewatch Keep for himself, had now attached himself to Gath'Ilzogg but still looked to Morganth for the Mage's direction. He was young, but had all the memories of his predecessors and was proving to be very informative. That made him invaluable in Morganths' studies. He had already found a way to create a medallion that accepted an enchantment causing the wearer to become his slave. He had been giving out the 'Grand Magus' medallions as a reward for almost any act of heroism or strength. Soon there would be enough of the more powerful Blackrock Orcs wearing his medallions that he would have a powerful army loyal only to him. But for now …

Morganth waved his hands and a book appeared. 'Forbidden Rights and other things Necromantic' was written plainly down its spine. "That Death Cloud should have kept going until there was no more blood to fill it. He clearly failed to summon it properly."

Singe raised his muzzle and 'tasted' the air, "I believe Ranone missed incorporating that vial we gave him." Singe spoke to his master through their shared mental link.

"Gath'Ilzogg, are the Catapaults positioned and loaded?" Morganth gritted his teeth in anger at the failure of the battle.

Gath'Ilzogg faced the Dark Mage and nodded, "Yes, my Liege."

"And the soldiers ready for the assault?"

"All is ready."

Morganth grunted then turned to fix Gath'Ilzogg with his glare, "We attack Lakeshire at sunrise as planned. I want the town leveled."

Gath'Ilzogg turned to his second at Morganth walked back into the cover of the forest, "Reinforce this defensive line. See that THEY do not interfere." He pointed across the fields at the Azeroth Army tents then lowered his arm to point at the head that had finally stopped rolling, "Do I make myself clear?"


	22. Chapter 22

"Too easy!" King Wrynn roared at his advisors as he entered the front half of the tent. The pavilion was divided by hanging cloths with regional maps pinned to them. The back half was set aside for the Kings' personal use. In the middle of the front half was a table with paper maps laid out showing the province, and hanging from the ridgelines were lists of the companies and combatants organized by their assigned duties. A throne had been set up against the dividing tapestry which was the flag of the kingdom that depicted the golden lions head, roaring, set upon a blue background. "They would never have begun this offensive if they were not prepared to fight for every last blade of grass in this Shire, and more."

"Yes my King, but …"

"Oh do not mistake my outburst for a comment against your Paladins Lord Uther, they were exemplary in their attack and their timing. Feston! Bring to me Lord Grayson's son, I wish to bestow my praises upon him directly."

"Yes, Sire."

"Yes, yes, I did see him in that group. His shield I would recognize anywhere. And a Huntress from Darnassus as well, what a combination. I believe there is a contingent from the Temple among the Kingdoms represented. I shall have to extend an invitation to table for them. See to it Feston."

"Yes, Sire, but …"

"Although, there was an unknighted Paladin out there with him, a trainee and a woman I believe? Smart of him to place her in the middle, allowed him to keep an eye on her as well as be able to come to her aid when she would be in need."

"SIRE!"

"What is it Feston? Speak up man, can't you see I'm busy?"

"Sire, the Paladins are already here."

"Well, why didn't you say so? Show them in immediately."

Feston held open the tapestries that hung in the doorway as the battle weary Paladins entered. "Greyson come in, come up and take a knee. Herald …"

"O-yea, o-yea, attend and pay heed to the words of our King!"

"No more shall you be known only by the deeds of your father and his father before him. In recognition of the service you have done for me, saving my life and the lives of your fellow Knights from the Fel-energies of the Horde army, I dub you," Greyson was barely aware of the King tapping him on the shoulder as he stared at the floor, "Lord Greyson the Shadowbreaker."

"As some of you know, I suddenly found myself in dire straights in the midst of battle but a short time ago. I myself out ran my personal guard and along with my standard bearer we were suddenly cut off from behind. When my mount was killed from under me …"

Slowly the smile Anna held for Greyson melted away as the King continued to recount the battle for the others there. She looked to Rae who turned her head and quickly smiled back at her before turning back to the event unfolding before them. But a cold chill ran up Anna's spine as she remembered the discussions when they met and each was introduced, and how Rae had named Greyson 'the Shadowbreaker' at that time.

* * *

Not far from the army encampment was the Eastvale Logging Camp where Rae had stayed a night on her journey to Stormwind. While it had been a quiet place back then, and still was during the very early hours before dawn, it was now quite busy during the day with the selling and buying and the various errands being done for the Army of Azeroth.

It was close to midnight as Rae sat bent over at a table in the commons room near the main barn. She couldn't sleep. Her dinner had grown cold untouched in front of her, the bread in her hand became hard and stale, and every now and then a few crumbs shook free from it as Rae silently wept. She had fought before, she was certain she had killed in that battle, but then it was so different than today. Then it had been quick and relatively clean. Today, today she had seen all the gore and agony left out of the history books about hand to hand combat. The man she had impaled on her lance, the man she had focused on as she executed her Hammer of Judgement, and the woman who dove for her only to have Sholamon cleave her shoulder and left arm off. Never mind that they were Orc or Blood Elf, Warrior or Shaman, they all had that same look enter their eyes as they died at her hand.

While she was fighting, while she had been saving her friends, or the King, or herself, while she was in the melee, she had moved and flowed and spoken the incantations without hesitation, without a moments doubt, just as she had been taught in the training rooms below the Cathedral. Even after the battle, while she had been in the Royal Pavillion and watched as Greyson was Knighted, she had felt more alive … if that was possible. She could laugh and cheer and even dance … But now … She was alone with her memories … And saw it all again, and again. She couldn't seem to stop seeing it, playing each death over and over in her minds eye.

Rae slowly began to notice that a small hand was holding hers, the one that used to have the bread in it. How long had it been there? How long had the bread been gone? How long had she been sitting here? Rae didn't know. For one so young she had been waiting very patiently until Rae turned her head to look at her table companion. "Hello." It was hard to smile but somehow Rae did, "What's your name."

"Jaina." Then she whispered, "I can see magic."

"You can?" Rae could play this game, "Tell me what you see." It was good to talk about anything else except ...

"I saw your aura from way over by my fathers' tent. So I decided to come over and find out who had such a glow, and if you were a great Mage from the city of Dalaran come to help my father fight this Horde."

While she heard every word, Rae was not ready to answer this wise little girl. "Your fathers' tent?" She was concerned that this little lady had sneaked off without telling anyone. "Show me where your father is."

Jaina looked over Raes' shoulder, toward Three Corners. "He is with the King right now. We can't disturb them." Jaina was not so easily distracted however, "Why are you so sad? Your Aura looked so strong one moment and then would fade away in the next. Do you waver Lady Knight and question your own morals? Lord Uther told me that is the only reason a Paladin may falter."

Rae took a deep shuddering breath and her eyes unfocused as she saw once again their eyes, "I had to kill today." Tears rolled down her cheeks as her composure broke apart.

The little girl, Jaina, Rae reminded herself, hugged her. "It's OK. My daddy says they're just the enemy, not even an organized people."

Raes heart broke when she heard this. She hugged Jaina fiercely and suddenly understood why it was that today had been so different than that other day at the swimming hole. "Never forget," Rae spoke the words through her pain in a course whisper to Jaina even as she understood them herself, "even enemies have feelings, all peoples have lives and loves and families and hopes and dreams ... And we should never take that life from them unless we have no other choice."

"And you had no other choice, dear heart." Rae recognized the voice of the woman who suddenly stood behind her.

"I chose to ride into that battle." Rae's voice was muffled by Jaina's shoulder as she still hugged this precious little girl to her. She did not see the look of hope on Jaina's face as she first saw the woman.

"To save the King, and keep your friends safe if you could. And you did. You did not choose to kill, but you had to, for their sakes."

Rae fell asleep as the White Lady gently touched her head. Then the Woman and Jaina positioned Rae on the table so she would not fall. All the while the Lady smiled, she smiled with her mouth, she smiled with her eyes, she smiled with her whole face, and she smiled with her whole heart, at Jaina, and at Rae. "She will be alright when she wakes."

"Will she forget, Your Grace?"

Her smile lessened for a moment, "No. She will never forget what she saw or learned today. But when she wakes, she will remember what she said to you, and know she had no other choice." The White Lady took Jaina's hand and walked with her to her tent.

"Will she regain her Conviction? That is what Lord Uther told me is the key to the Light in a Paladin, 'Conviction and determination to uphold the Purity of the Light,' she chanted as she recalled what Lord Uther had said. Did you strengthen her resolve for her? Is that the gift you gave her?"

"That is up to her, my dear. I gave her a greater gift for tonight; I gave her a dreamless sleep. Tomorrow, she will be the better at what she must do for a good night's rest tonight."

"I know why she is sad. It is because of how close she came to breaking her Purity."

The White Lady seemed to smile extra bright when she looked down into Jainas' face. "You must keep that between us for now. But soon you may tell that to the King, and the whole world if you wish."

It was as if they walked in a dream where no one could see them as they walked right past the sentries and the guards and through the tent opening and right up to her bed. The Woman helped Jaina change into her night clothes and tucked her in, "Now go to sleep little daughter. And remember what Rae said to you."

"Is that her name? Rae?"

"Yes, Sayberry Rae Gordon, but you will call her Lady Saybery when you meet her again." The White Lady sighed deeply, "She feels she is the last of her family, but she is the first of her line, her new family."

"I like that. She is the last only because she is the first."

The woman reached over and gently tweaked Jaina's nose, "That's right. Now go to sleep, or I'll tell the Kirin Tor all about you."

Jaina quickly squeezed her eyes shut and snored a couple times. When she opened one eye and saw the Woman had gone she whispered, "Good night, Lady Elune", and rolled onto her side before she went to sleep.

A few minutes later her father came in to make sure his daughter was asleep. On her forehead he saw some silver lip prints where whoever put her to bed had kissed her. 'Nice touch', he thought as his heart melted a little when he noticed how she looked so like her mother.


	23. Chapter 23

The rain was still falling.

Word spread quickly and quietly through the camp to prepare for battle. It was that hour before dawn when the skies were at their darkest. What feeble light from the heavens came from the moon through the heavy clouds but was lost with its setting.

Annaralia woke Rae to the news that the scouts had reported, and they were called to the Kings' Pavillion. Rae sat up in her bed, in her tent, dressed in the most luxurious and warm nightclothes she could remember ever wearing. She changed quickly, splashed water on her face and ran for the Pavilion with her Ranseur on her back and her helm in her hands. Sholamon was tucked into his hidden sheath where he would stay unless and until she reached for her sword.

Greyson came out of his tent in front of her with a leather wrapped shield in his hands. He raised the shield towards her before she could run by, "RAE, take this!" She caught it as he fell into step with her.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Me? How should I know," He smiled as he said it, "It's not mine."

"RAE! GREYSON!" Lord Shadowsbane was in the doorway of the tent urging them on. When they met him, he embraced his son, then ushered them both into the Pavillion. They barely had time to enter when they heard the unmistakable sound of the Trebuchet throwing arm slapping against the stops. The siege had begun.

Many ran to the Eastern edge of the camp to see what they could while runners began coming in to deliver their reports. A contingent of Knights mounted to sally forth into the enemy lines. They didn't get across the fields before they were cut down by archers and hunters.

King Wrynn stood behind Lord Grayson, "If we could only find one who had their Hearthstone set to Lakeshire, just one, we could maybe cause enough confusion in their ranks to save a few townsfolk."

"Or launch an assault that would surprise and crush them." General Proudmore ground his teeth in frustration as he spoke.

The King stood straight as a statue, "Right now their lives are more important to me!"

"What does he mean?" Rae and Anna were near the door so Anna motioned for them to walk outside.

"A Hearthstone Rae, you know, these." and she tapped the one hanging on her own belt. "It can be set to an Inn at a city and the owner can then use it to go there whenever they wish."

"How?"

Anna looked at Rae as if she couldn't believe she could ask such a thing. After all, Hearthstones were so common, everyone had one. When she remembered having to teach Rae how to hide her backpack and bags in one, she let go her frustration and showed Rae how to activate one. Rae moved along with her, thinking of her Hearthstone and then her destination as she was instructed, until her hands began to glow. "That's how it's done." Anna took a step forward. "You can stop now."

"HOW!"

It was too late. Before Anna could say 'STEP', Rae was surrounded by the energies that affected the transfer. Just as Rae disappeared Anna recognized the blazon on Raes' Hearthstone.

* * *

Taking the bridge and then the town was not difficult, but it was more costly than Gath'ilzogg, or his pet human, expected. Now there was no reason to Catapult the town. But the order had been given anyway.

The battle at the front of the Inn had been both fierce and mercifully short as many of the Shires inhabitants had taken refuge there. Yorus Barleybrew had lost the use of his left arm when he tackled the first Orc to try and come through the door. He didn't see the second Orc. But Kinberly Hiett made sure that one and a few others would never bother anyone again. After the first melee, both sides moved back, the invaders to form a group and the inhabitants into the Kitchen area which had only one doorway to defend. Breanna stood behind Daniels and Wental while Sherman and Gloria Femmel stood on the stairs to the cellar where the wines and other supplies were kept.

"I will not stand by again and see innocents butchered." Eno thought her cousin was whispering to her before he moved forward to set himself in a defensive posture in front of the captain that had this detail; his eyes looked over his shield as his sword dipped into the Tearmas stance position.

"You were ordered to hold the Inn against any possible attacker Hearthing in. Not to slaughter any who took refuge here." In his memory he saw flashes of an Elvin Village he helped decimate almost Fourty years ago, and the one child he was able to save.

Sidicus began to laugh, "So, the traitor finally shows himself. Remember boys, there's one in every army, and one in every Blood Elf."

At the words of the captain, Eno and the others who served under him in the Blood Guard moved to stand next to Hysal, loosely forming the defensive line of the Crescent Moon. "I cannot let you do this, my lord," Her eyes never left Sidicus as she spoke, "on your own. Captain, you have your orders, I delivered them myself so I know what they are. And a Superior Officer had given you an order, now leave the innocents alone."

"He's not MY superior officer." Sidicus growled his response. His men slowly drew their weapons as they maneuvered into the Bulls Head melee position.

As the two leaders faced each other a swirling of mist began to coalesce between the townsfolk, who had taken refuge in the kitchen, and the two lines of fighters. One moment the spot under it held nothing, the next a woman dressed in the armor of a Knight of the Silver Hand materialized from the instantaneous portal that is created when a living being uses a Hearthstone. Her white hair seemed to come alive in that final moment of transfer and blew forward to cover her face.

Hysal didn't relax his stance as he glanced quickly towards this new threat. He smiles as he notices the Renseur strapped on the new arrivals' back.

"Well, that was interesting Anna … Anna?" The woman reached up and pulled the hair away from her eyes, "Oh no."

"One? They sent only one knight?" Sidicus sneered as he turned slightly to face the new arrival, he unconsciously lowered his sword slightly in his astonishment.

"Maybe. Maybe there are others following her. Maybe she's all they need."

Sidicus let out with a raucous laugh that was echoed by the rest of his detail as Rae unsheathed her Sholamon. At least she would now be able to understand what these creatures were saying.

"Then we shall teach their king how to properly respect the Blackrock Orcs." Sidicus tries to step around the Blood Elf towards Rae but Hysal moves between them again. "You would defend her?"

"Look at her, what weapon does she carry."

"I don't care what weapons she dies with."

"You haven't heard of the Human with a Ranseur? She defeated Darkwind and his patrol … single handed … and naked."

"All the more glory when I defeat her. Then I will take her outside as my prize and strip her for all her friends to see, I assure you the cowards watch from their comfortable perches. Then, after I have my way with her, I gut her like one of the fish from the lake."

"Your wife may like being treated like that, but I don't." Rae spoke directly to the captain.

Silence for a moment met hung in the air as the fighters before her realized they could understand her words. The races had never been able to understand the mumblings of Humans before, much less be understood by any of them.

Sidicus was the first to recover, "It is not for you to tell me what I will do with you. You have no hope of surviving, and I don't intend to just let you."

Hysal moved once again to clearly state his intentions. "The prisoners will not be slaughtered as long as I have breath in me."

For answer, Sidicus turned and drove his sword through the belly of the nearest Blood Elf.


	24. Chapter 24

"GREY!" Anna burst into the meeting pavilion, "She's Hearthed!" She was fully four steps into the pavilion before she realized everyone had stopped and was looking at her.

"Lady Annaralia," Lord Shadowsbane stepped in front of her, "Hearthing is not usually an action worthy of interrupting the King over."

"It's Rae, my lord, Lady Sayberry. She … didn't know what a Hearthstone could do."

"That's odd. Isn't she one of your students lord Shadowbreaker?" King Wrinn straightened from the map he had been consulting over.

"Actually, my liege," Greyson responded, "I am her student, as is the Lady Annaralia, Brother Wilhelm and Brother Sammuel." Sammuel stood up next to Wilhelm and raised the turkey leg he had just bitten into for his breakfast.

"Her fighting ability is second to none, my Leige," Wilhelms rich voice easily filled the room, "But her memory was lost and she was found near Lakeshire. She cannot remember the most mundane things, but she knows the most incredible facts, and she knows .. or rather, she feels, intimately … how the Light flows. And that locket around her neck glows when she is most …"

"Locket?" Wilhelm suddenly had King Wrinns' full attention, "A purpure locket?"

"Yes, my Leige." Wilhelms' eyes widened slightly in surprise, "You have seen it then?"

"Or one just like it." Now King Wrinn looked to Lord Shadowsbane who nodded.

King Wrinn looked at Anna, "Continue."

"Your Majesty, I taught her how to hearth, but when she could not break the casting, I got a look at her Hearthstone, … "

The Captain of the Palace Guard threw aside the covering over the door, "Sire, Forgive me, but our scouts report a commotion in the Shire, at the Inn."

"Rae?" Sir Shadowbreaker asked.

Anna just nodded.

"Well General Proudmore, it seems you have your distraction."

General Proudmore placed his helm upon his head while exiting the pavilion with his first lieutenant, "Let's make certain this young lady did not just throw her life away for no reason."

* * *

Turn and block, throw a feint then slash on the backswing as she turns to block an offside attack with her shield. If she took the time to think about it, she'd be dead. Rae could almost see in her mind the pattern in this dance. The shield was certainly handy, but cumbersome as well. She could not rid herself of the feeling that while it protected her, it also hindered her.

She knew once she put aside her Sin'dorei Warblade she would not be able to understand much less communicate with these combatants, but she also knew in her gut that she needed to fight with her Ranseur.

She could see that Hysal used his shield differently than she, like a catchers mitt, he would move it to just the right spot to stop an attack. And every now and again he would throw a magical attack that first collected upon his shield before it flew at his opponents, knocking them over. She was too busy with her own battles to see how he did it.

Then the choice was taken from her as Sidicus waded into the battle once again and struck Sholamon from her hand as she was reposting. She turned fully towards him as she released the hand bar in the belly of her shield and, grabbing the shield by the straps, jammed it into Sidicus face. Sidicus grabbed her shield and yanked hard intending to pull her off balance. Instead he found himself falling backwards as she released the shield just as he pulled. Now he was staring up at her from the floor.

And she was smiling. Smiling because she had him dancing to her moves. His heart filled with rage.

Sidicus threw the shield away and roared his rage before he threw his hands at Rae and used that force to roll up onto his feet. His vision was red as he imagined how good it would feel to squeeze the life from this little girl. He had lost the war with his anger.

Rae saw the anger building in Sidicus even as he pulled on her shield and fell. As he roared, she danced back and reached behind her for Moonbeam. Sidicus overbalanced himself trying to grab for her throat.

She planted Moonbeam point down on the floor and propped the butt of the polearm up into the soft area under Sidicus chin. "Only warning big guy. Now go home, make love to your wife, raise fat little babies and live a long life."

She saw it in his eyes, behind the rage, behind the fear of losing. He had already lost … and he knew as she knew. He grabbed the hand hold of her Ranseur and inhaled to roar in her face, but never got the chance. What happened next stopped every combatant in the room.

Within a heartbeat of his hand closing on Anar'a Elune the Amulet around Raes' neck came brilliantly alive and Sidicus rose up onto his toes as he arched backward with his mouth open in a scream he could not utter. His eyes opened wide until they were bulging in their sockets, and his free arm swung wildly out to his side until his splayed hand slapped another Orc. Then the energies that held him exploded outward, sending both Orcs across the room to break through the big window that made up the front wall and out onto the docks where they rolled together until they slammed into one of the corner pylons which stopped them from falling into the lake.

A long moment in time was suspended in that room, counted only by the sound of the movement of the Grandfather clock in the corner. Time started again when Rae whispered "I didn't know it could do that." As her Amulet went dark, the remaining Orcs ran for the door with Hysal following close behind until he got to the broken window.

"Bloodguard, see to the safety of the prisoners." Hysal spoke his orders as he watched the commotion Sidicus was causing. Then he raised his sights higher, "Rangers, protect the Human Woman, protect the Champion."

"From what?" Enola stood over Sholamon but, after what she had just seen, did not try to retrieve it.

"From that!" Hysal pointed to the hills at the western end of Lake Everstill where the Army of Azeroth had broken through and was now pouring down the hillsides and swarming into Lakeshire.

They all watched as the invading army ran past the Inn. The Balista that had been prepared to pound Lakeshire into the earth was slowly being turned and re-aimed to throw their deadly loads at the breach in the attackers lines that had opened up at the top of the clifs just beyond the Shire, at the west end of Lake Everstill.

"I think it is I who should protect you this time." Rae came to stand next to him at the window. She placed her hand over his where it rested on the ruined frame. They could understand each other perfectly as they looked once again into each others souls.


	25. Chapter 25

Magnusson Forkbeard lead his troops through the thinned ranks of the enemy as his dwarves attacked the area just above the swamps at the west end of the lake. Thinned because every fourth fighter had been pulled to reinforce the defensive wall at Three Corners.

With him came Hunters, Mages and Warriors. He wanted to believe he had the best Ironforge had to offer, because that's what the history books would say if this attack succeeded. But he knew he had all those he could gather on short notice in the middle of the night when he saw the ranks thinning and conceived of this plan.

Now he was charging headlong down a steep embankment right into an occupied town … and may the Light have pitty on their souls. Because when Magnusson got scared, he got mad, and falling while trying to keep his feet under him enough to think he had any control scared him.

Next to him, some human boy with a wolf who said he had to save his friends was sliding down the hill on a fallen enemies shield. Instead of wanting him safely out of the battle, Magnusson, wishing he had thought of using a shield like that before, tucked his own shield under his knees. Then he want faster, which scared him more, which made him madder than ever before.

When he finally reached the sentry lines at the bottom of the hill he leapt off the shield and threw himself at the largest Orc there, taking him totally off his feet and slamming him into a tree another ten feet away. The Orc did not get up, and Magnusson did not bother to say "Excuse me" as he slipped his shield back onto his arm and charged the next man in line. A Tauran with one horn remained standing against the tree until late in the day when a crazy woman knocked him off the tree branch that was jammed into his back and through his heart.

The hunters each had their most vicious friends preceed them into the breach, and the warriors slowed at the top of the hill only long enough to make sure the breach could not be closed before all the men were through.

"Most women in this world look forward to being a Princess one day of their life, their wedding day. I would make you my Princess every day, from this day forward."

"I'll hold you to that, my Prince."

"Now, while the armies are otherwise distracted, we need to do something about the real power here." Hysal took Raes' hand and kissed it, then turned to the rest of his squad. "This battle is already over. Morganth has already fled to his tower and is laughing at us all. While we fight each other here, he is collecting his own army to wipe away any who survive."

"My lord, you can't seriously think we will believe such a blatant lie." The quartermaster of the unit was not ready to believe.

"Look, LOOK out there and tell me what you see!" They all looked as Hysal continued to persuade them, "Every member of this army is rushing to the breach in the battle lines, except the Blackrock Orc who wear the 'Grand Magus Medallion'."

They saw he was right. Even the guards that had accompanied Sidicus were gone, leaving their Captain draped obscenely at the edge of the wharf. He no longer wore his medallion which was now resting on the bottom of the lake for all they knew.

"How did you find out." Eno knew, but still had her part to play.

"Remember last week when that lone sentry was found knocked out by the tower. He was not dropped by an Azerothian spy as was widely reported, but by my own agent." Hysal pulled one of his rank strips off and unfolded it before handing it to Eno, "I was sent here with this message from the High Council."

Enola took a moment to read the message and then passed it on. It was the same message Hysal showed her when he won the campfire bardic. It not only told of the Champion but also of a corresponding threat.

That was how magic worked, there was always a balance. When a new strength in the Light was found or learned, a new strength in the talents from the Sunwell was discovered. Only this time, the Seers pointed to the Light as having a new Champion, but the Sunwell did not produce a new counter-strength. That meant there had to be another way it was balanced out, and that meant the blood rights, the Bloodwell, for lack of a better term.

"And the only rising power was Morganth, one time High Magi Council member of Stormwind." Hysal continued after most of the Knights there had read the message. "The only evidence we could see was the Grand Magus Medallion, so we took one and our Magi's tested it. They died from the backlash. But not before they wrote that it was a mind control mechanism. But that was all we knew, until now. He is a traitor to his own people and now to us as well. Only the Orcs have been given these medallions, and they are now leaving the battle, to andwers his call and do his bidding, to be his slaves."

"I see it is not this gathered horde that is the true threat, but the Magi who used to be one of the chosen of Stormwind and who has now deceived even the strongest of the strong in his care." Rae spoke in a soft voice, but there was no mistaking her strength of character. "I need to challenge, Morganth." Instinctively, Rae looks out over the length of Lake Everstill to the crenulations and the flags waving atop Stonewatch Keep.

Hysal smiled at Rae, "We, He cannot fight both the power of the Light and the power of the Sunwell at the same time."

"We, then." Enola carefully picked up Sholamon and handed it to Rae.

"We, then." Rae agreed as she took Sholamon and placed him back into his sheathe.

"But how do we get around that." Hysal was looking out the broken windows again.

While placing her shield on her back, Rae turned and began to walk towards the kitchen of the Inn. "We go out the back way, silly."

"There is no back way. There is only the one door." The quartermaster was not quite convinced helping this human was their best course of action. He also was not quite ready to abandon his Captain who he had seen do what he considered impossible on a few occasions already.

"Then stay, and defend our escape. A smaller group will be easier to get past the armies." Rae continued through the kitchen, descending the stairs into the cellar where the big wine kegs were, the Blood Elves followed her with the Quartermaster coming last.

When she had worked her way behind the kegs, she stopped and searched the wall until she found a stone that moved but did not fall. She pushed it in and turned it, and a door frame suddenly became visible. "I found this one day when I was playing hide-and-seek."

When the door opened, there in the dim light of one lantern were the men and women who had defended the Inn and slipped away as Rae and Sidicus fought. Behind them were the children they were protecting. Some of them were whimpering as quietly as they could while Yorus and Breanna stood in the opening with their weapons at the ready.

When they saw Rae peeking through, they relaxed their stance. "Ye drove them off?" Yorus was amazed.

Breana shouldered her was towards the door, "All by yourself Lady Say … ?"

Rae raised her hand to forestall any aggressions as Breanna stopped when she saw Hysal behind her. "I made some friends, and we need to pass through."

"Ye betrayed us, and the children." Yorus hefted his cudgel again with his one good arm.

"No. We need to pass through to the lake. There are worse things at work here than an invading army, and I need to deal with him. Please let us pass."

"This be a dead end, there be no going through."

The old lady who begged from the town benches was also here. Some said she was a seer, maybe because she always spoke in rhyme.

"A journey unending, a task never done,  
No time to be counted, battles must be one."

As she spoke she pointed at Hysal. But when she came forward and took Raes' hand, she knelt and looked up at Rae with a tear in her eyes:

"Born on the Solstice, on the Equinox chosen,  
Her darkness she'll turn into gold.

"Like a star she'll descend, to the valley of death,  
The Justice of Knights to uphold;

"And there in the balance, a girl will stand tall,  
The mouse will stand up and roar.

"She'll cast aside doubt, and finish the fight,  
While over them all she will soar."

Rae knew the prophecy; it was embroidered in Thelasian on a framed cloth in the entrance hall of her family home where it was displayed for all to see; though no one knew the language any more. She herself only knew what it said because that is what Myrdden told her. He also told her it was made by her first ancestress who founded her family line and who she was named in honor of. She looked questioningly at the old woman.

"You hear," the old lady nodded her head knowingly as she spoke so softly only Rae could hear her, "it's you dear." She kissed Rae's hand before she turned to Yorus, "Don't be an ass, let them pass."

She led Rae through the villagers. When she was past the last child she struck her arm out in front of her and waved her hand in an intricate pattern. Before the astonished looks of all there, a passage opened up from the back of the hidey hole.

"Yorus," Breanna was breathing threats at the dwarf, "You told me this would be a cool room for storage, not a real smugglers den."

"Aye, that too." Yorus hung his head.

Rae looked back at Hysal and smiled, "See? I told you there was a back door."


	26. Chapter 26

The moment they walked through the mouth of the tunnel they were under the boards of the pier. But, instead of hearing the screams of men and women as they fought and died, they heard the sound of the water lapping against the rocks before them, and the sound of the birds as they soared overhead.

While they all looked about in wonder for a moment, it was Enola who voiced the meaning of the silence. "We aren't in Lakeshire any more. Tota, scout out our position."

"We're facing north instead of south," Tota looked from the sun on the water to its shadowed area, "and the water is shallower here, I'm betting we're at the East end of a lake, may not even be Everstill." Then he slipped out to see what he could find to identify where they were.

"A portal then." Hysal motioned for the Quartermaster, Tantus, to go back through, "Ol' Yorus really does have this corner of the Black Market then." Tantus came back out of the opening after being gone just a few seconds, "He paid well for this portal, it's two way and stable."

"As it should be." Hysal turned to Tota for his report.

"East end of Lake Everstill, Morganths' Tower is an easy march from here, except for the Orcs and Ogres marching along the road."

"We shouldn't have to hide. We should just take our prisoner up to the tower and turn her over."

Hysal came off the ground and right into Tantus' face before he stopped for a moment and his expression changed, "It's a good idea and should get us into the keep easily enough." He turned to Rae, "You game to try?"

Rae smiled and nodded.

"Top.." Wilkes had stationed himself as lookout and now was hunkering down against the rock wall next to the portal opening. They all dropped down just as two Ogres and an Orc mage came down the path and onto the pier where they stopped, looked around, then turned to walk back the way they had come.

"Tantus, help Rae up top and wait for the patrol to come back. If they talk to you and offer to escort us to Morganth then we will follow them through the pickets. Otherwise, we will swim to the other side of the river outlet and then creep up the cliffs as best we can to get inside. Everyone else, get into that boat and make it look like we just landed here."

"The boat was right there in plain sight, they can't have missed it." Enola was incredulous.

"I'm betting they did. It's just part of the scenery until we get in it."

"Their coming back," Tantus was already in place and had his hand on Rae's wrist as she held her hands behind her back.

They all jumped into the water and grabbed the boat, Hysal spoke with Eno, "Next time voice your objections sooner."

"Next time, tell us your plans faster." She grabbed the leader and swung around to tie it to the cleat just as the Mage saw Hysal coming up at the edge of the pier.

There was no time left to talk. The Mage was snearing at Rae and the patrol walked up to Tantus when Raes' Hearthstone suddenly awoke. "Rae, where are you? We've taken back the eastern half of Lakeshire up to the Inn. Please be still alive."

Immediately the Mage aimed his staff like a long barreled gun and attacked as the Ogres both laughed and charged the party. But when the rest of the Blood Knights swarmed the dock, it didn't take long before all three were down. Still, if not for a few well timed heals from Enola and Rae, they would have lost a couple from their force. These Ogres may not have been the smartest, but they were Elite trained.

After Hysal showed Rae how to use her Hearthstone as a communicator, she first assured Anna then invited her to join their party and told her where the portal was.

After a moment Anna came through the portal followed by Greyson, his son, Sammuel, Wilhelm and Sarafeena and three other Night Elves.

"Lady Sayberry," Lord Greyson fixed Rae with a steely gaze, "I do not believe I gave you permission to go anywhere without a proper escort."

"An escort? … my lord?"

"Maybe this custom is unknown where you were raised, but here we consider the honor of unwed women very highly and provide for their safety. When I sent you on your mission, I also sent my son and Lady Anna with you, not only as teachers but as companions and escorts. Now, from the reports my son has given me, this aura that allows us to speak freely between us is maintained by your weapon. So it is necessary for you to be with Dusksingers' party.

"In this regard, it is logical that I therefore take the rest of your class with me for this assault. But this leaves you in unknown hands without an escort." Greyson turned his eyes from Rae to Hysal, "Master Dusksinger, since you are obviously in charge of this band, would you do the honors?"

"That's' asking the fox to escort the hen." Enola leaned over to whisper to Tantus but forgot that the aura translated freely everything said. She promptly blushed as Hysal glared at her.

"Lord Shadowsbane, I am honored that you seek to place this responsibility on me. However, I must admit I am completely under the Lady Raes' enchantment. So, while I may promise upon my honor to protect her even unto the offering of my own life, I cannot be her chaperone."

Lord Shadowsbane smiled, "Your honesty strengthens my opinion of you. In battle against each other over these many years, you have always acted with the utmost propriety. I am honored to fight this battle with you instead of against you." He then turned to Eno, "I see you, Lady Knight, are the next highest rank here. Would you then accept this responsibility and fulfill this honor?"

"I, Eno LaRae," and she performed the formal salute, "Accept this duty of honor."

"We finally meet Lady LaRae." Then with as much respect for traditions as Eno, Lord Shadowsbane stood to attention and bowed to her, "I and my family are honored at the responsibility you have accepted."

It was Anna, still dealing with the shock of being partied with Blood Elves, who stated the question no one had yet thought to ask. "RAE! … I mene, My Lord", and she turned to Lord Shadowsbane, "What happens when we begin to fight? Will these in our party also be affected by our Area of Effect attacks .. Consecration for instance? Or are they immune now that we are on the same mission?"

Rae and Hysal looked at each other, then as one they both performed their versions of the Blessing of Consecration. Watching them, Sara saw they both performed the same moves almost exactly opposite ways, like they were imperfect images of each other in a mirror. The ground filled with angry lines of energy emanating from each of them, but no one standing there was affected in any way. The only thing that changed was that Raes' amulet glowed slightly for a moment as the ground began to erupt. But only Lord Greyson wwho looked for such an effect from it, saw this.

"I'm satisfied, you?" Hysal bowed to Rae. Rae smiled and curtseyed in return. "Quite. Shall we go?" Then they both looked at Anna in such a way that she giggled a little.

"I … Rae, you never cease to amaze me." As Anna hugged Rae she reached over and covered the active side of Raes' Hearthstone to dampen its abilities. Now it would receive whispers but not broadcast unless it was purposely used. She and everyone else in the merged party did the same.

They separated, Rae going with the Blood-Knights and the other Humans and Night Elves going around to another area to scale the cliffs.

It took some time to scale the cliff face and not be seen. They managed it with only a few harrowing slips and by early afternoon the party is resting under the eves of the tower well away from its main gate. The time to attack was fast approaching. Hysal ordered everyone to rest and look to their weapons and armor to be certain they were ready.


	27. Chapter 27

"That's not possible." Hysals' voice carried on the wind to her as if she was meant to hear it. Rae did not believe in coincidence any longer, so she moved cautiously closer to the large tree 'speaking' as the conversation continued.

"I held it," a womans' fierce whisper this time, "I read the inscriptions around the blade, I read its' name boldly written in Mithril along the spine, it **IS** 'Sholamon'."

"Yes, My swords' name is Sholamon." Rae came the rest of the way around the tree. "And my Polearm is named Moonlight." When Rae said 'Moonlight', Sholamon translated it to 'Anar'a Elune' in the Blood Elves hearing.

Eno looked like a high schooler caught with a cigarette as her face suddenly darkened when she realized she had not been as quiet as she thought. "A .. My apologies, Rae. We are consulting about a legend among our people concerning your weapons. 'The Fall of Deathwing'. Of course you've heard of it?" Eno could see from her eyes even before Rae slowly shook her head, she had not.

Hysal interrupted, "But from the inscriptions ... Surely, you ... You cannot read them, of course. May I?"

Rae reached behind her to remove Sholamon from his hidden sheathe and her hand ran into Dunadee who had also come up when he saw the way Rae was creaping towards the tree. "Maybe we should move back to the group and just get this all out in the open." She turned and walked to a clearer area as she withdrew Sholamon. Then she turned around as she handed him to Hysal.

He accepted it with both hands flat so Rae had to lay the blade on his palms, and then read aloud the inscriptions on the blade. "Though black is his heart, and his gaze is cold, nothing shall harm him, 'cept this blade of old." He turned over the blade and continued reading, "When he rises into, the setting sun, with my healers hand, shall he be undone." He hands back the weapon. "It is a poor translation into your tongue but it comes from a lay believed to be written about Neltherion who lost heart and became the Black Dragon Deathwing. In "The Fall of the Black Dragon" a man slays the dragon with a simple Sin'dori Warblade that has been imbued with special powers by a gem he found or was given. Of course, there have been many blades made and named Sholamon sold for great amounts, and this one does not even have a fixture to set a gem. Since 'Sholamon' is written so boldly upon it, this is most likely one such blade."

"I think if it was a copy, She would have said so."

"Who?" Both Hysal and Eno speak in unison.

Tantus suddenly hisses, "Patrol."

"Too late to hide," Hysal quickly handed Sholamon back to Rae and drew his own sword, "Rest time is over."

Since Rae already had Sholamon out, she slipped her shield off her shoulders and set her frame of mind to healing.

The patrol was upon them almost as soon as they had all drawn weapons. The clamor of the battle, short as it was, was enough to alert those in the courtyard on the other side of the wall. The party moved to the main gate where the next guard through never saw what hit him.

In twos and threes the guards in the main courtyard came to fight them. Each scuffle was short until Gath'Ilzogg stepped through the main door of the tower and saw them. They were too far away to use their Hammer of Justice and try to stun him into silence as he leaned back into the tower and yelled for reinforcements.

Just as the guards began swarming out of the main doorway and the rest in the courtyard was responding to the horn calling them all to arms, the Knights of the Silver Hand, led by Lord Grayson Shadowsbane, attacked the south gate.

Instantly confusion reigned in the courtyard as some saw the second wave of attack and ran for the south gate, while others ran to the north end to reinforce the Blood Knight contingent bringing in a prisoner until they were close enough to be attacked by them.

Until a laugh rings out from high atop the tower and every Blackrock Orc freezes in place. Morganth, now calling himself the Grand Magus Doane, stands upon the rampart and raises his hands. "The gates are locked! My 'guests' shall not be leaving." The thudding of the gates closing shakes the ground.

"You surprise me, and I find that a novelty. You should have waited until you had the upper hand, if that would ever have happened. Now you will die without ever knowing who your true enemy is. Gath'Ilzogg, move them together so they may destroy each other."

Like marionettes on strings, Gath'Ilzogg and all the Orcs in his command turn to the closest group to them and begin to slowly advance. Some roar their displeasure at being controlled while others gleam in anticipation with the blood lust of their kind roaring in them. All of them raised their weapons, ready to strike when they got close enough.

"Close the gap reluctantly," Eno spoke loud enough to be heard by both parties. "They know not of our alliance." She trusted that Sholamon was only translating for their party.

Slowly each group allowed themselves to be pushed together as they fought the Orcs that came closest to them. Except Sarafeena and the three Temple Guards from Darnassus, who harassed Gath'Ilzogg directly with thrown weapons and arrows until his anger flared within him and he charged them. Then Pandorii struck from out of nowhere. He fairly danced all around Gath'Ilzogg until the two groups merged.

Then, instead of fighting each other, Hysal took on Gath'Ilzogg directly using his shield to great advantage and taunting Gath'Ilzogg to even greater rage until he could only see and attack Hysal. The rest of the groups formed two rings with Sara, Maison Izumo of the Blood knights and Rae in the center with the Temple Guards to defend them as needed.

Once merged, they began to move again towards the Tower. Gath'Ilzogg was pushed backwards now with almost every swing of Hysals sword, Pandorii at his heels always harassing him until they were at the bottom of the steps.

At the top of the tower stood the Grand Magus looking down upon the battle, "They should be tearing each other apart, not my guards." He fairly growled at the cooperation he was seeing.

Singe flew up over the edge and turned back to look at Doane, "This is my cue to leave. You should do the same, my lord. Fly away from here before the champion of the Red Dragonflight comes to destroy you. Your army is captive or contained in Lakeshire, and your guard already defeated by this combined force. May they never see how powerful they are united or there is no hope for the Black Dragonflight at all.

"May Deathwing burn your flesh from your bones, you coward."

Singe turned and flew off to the north, "I must be alive for him to do that."

Down at the foot of the tower, Gath'Ilzogg stumbles and falls to one knee from his wounds. As if that is their signal, many of the Orcs under his command turn to flee only to be dragged back into the fight by the enchantments upon their medallions.

"Rae!" Hysal calls in the lull, "Go with Eno and someone else and do what you must to stop Morganth."

Tyndel steps out of the center formation, "I protect the chosen." Both Malissa and Laquitta look at her a moment then nod, she has a dream to fulfill, and this may be it. Laquitta takes Raes' place as healer.

Sara also follows Rae into the tower. She neither asks permission nor allows herself to be turned aside.

The few Orcs they encounter on their climb to the top are more interested in flight than fight; Eno pays them little heed.

Rae puts Sholamon away and draws out Moonlight as they round the last set of stairs to the roof.

When they break out onto the ramparts, the only one there is Grand Magus Doane.

Doane, waiting for them, unleashes a fire attack onto the stairs opening.

Arrows fly through the flames but are incinerated before they get to Doane. "Is that the best you can do?" His contempt is so obvious, yet it also blinds him to the threat of his attackers in light of what they have already accomplished.

As the flames die away, Rae jumps out and extends Moonlight towards the Grand Magus. He bats away the blade but it still his shoulder is cut a glancing blow. Instantly as the blade touches Doane, it flares brightly causing more pain than the simple cut would have.

By this time, Eno has come around to his other side and attacks.

Doane merely waves his hands and all four of his attackers are stunned. "Fools, did you truly believe that the orcs had the presence of mind required to plan an invasion of this magnitude? I will deal with you once I am through with your friends." As the Grand Magun walks to the edge of the tower he transforms. "I grow tired of these games." Where a human once stood, now stands a full grown adult dragon.

Tyndel whispers, "A Black Dragon."

A whisper enters Raes hearing, "Mistress, I must fight." As the dragon launches itself off the tower, she draws Sholamon, "It is my turn to fight, my lady."

Rae rushes to the edge of the tower ignoring what Sholamon needs to do. She sees her love standing against the dragon as he hovers for a moment above the courtyard.

"I am Darkblaze. You will die now, a paltry offering to Deathwing as our march upon Stormwind begins."

The Amulet at Raes' throat burns suddenly bright as the Armor of the Light materializes and, as quick as the thought from her heart, rushes to envelop Hysal within its protective shell before Darkblaze lands upon the party. Maison and a few others are crushed instantly.

"So, the champion of Alexstraza shows himself at last. You are too late. And without Sholamon and the Eye together, you cannot defeat me."

With his taunt, all that Sholamon showed her a few moments before comes back into her mind. "I remember," she whispers before she climbs up onto the crenellation and, as Darkblaze rises up to unleash his breath attack, jumps off.

As she jumps, she yanks her Amulet from its chain and holds it to Sholamon near the handle. Instantly, as the Amulet activates, a hole opens in the blade and accepts the Amulet and Sholamon changes from a Sin'Dorei Warblade into a Quel'Dorei Longsword with serrated edges.

His attack is burning in his chest and he must release. As Darkblaze opens his mouth, he suddenly feels Rae as she lands upon him and plunges the sword up to its hilt into his neck, severing his arteries and his windpipe both. With the impact, Raes head hits the pomel of the sword and she falls away from him to land unmoving on the hard ground.

The pain causes Darkblaze to rear up clawing the air about him, climbing high into the sky. Until he finally reaches the clouds and the fire within him explodes out lighting up the entire east end of Lake Everstill as if it were noon instead of sundown until his remains plunge into the lake.

On the ground, in the courtyard of Stonewatch Keep, a mixed party of Blood Knights and Knights of the Silver Hand huddle around their fallen comrades, waiting for an attack that never comes. The Orcs are free of their enchantment and have run away, back to their ancestral homeland. Even Gath'Ilzogg has run off, with the help of his men.

Hysal, crying, the armor gone from about him, holds Raes' still form to his breast. He has tried three times already to resurrect her, but she does not. Finally, Loquitta coaxes her from his grip. She speaks to him, but he cannot understand, Sholamon is gone.

A hand is reached down to where he can see it. He looks up and see the compassion in Lord Grayson Shadowsbanes' eyes, and grasps his hand to be helped up to his feet. For a moment he overbalances, and Lord Grayson holds him in a comforting hug as he regains his balance.

From the tower entrance emerge Eno helping Sara to walk. She too starts and almost abandons Sara as she sees Rae lying on the ground with Loquitta working to revive her. To her left she sees what's left of Maison and Malissa and someone else she does not now recognize. She swallows hard as the gore tries to rise in her throat.

Sir Shadowbreaker came over and picked up Sara, much to Pandoriis' concern, and carried her over to where Loquitta had said for the injured to be tended. Once there, Brother Sammuel tended to her wounds while Eno went to console her cousin …

Until Rae coughed. INSTANTLY Hysal was at her side.

Loquitta leans conspiratorially to tell Eno in Thalassian, "Cannot resurrect unconscious." They both smile.


	28. Chapter 28

A contingent of warriors showed up shortly after Rae revived and she had to help protect and explain why they could not attack the Blood Knights that were part of their party. Then when they demanded to know the entire story, she told them "Make your demands of the King, not me." So they were brought to Lakeshire.

At first, the warriors wanted to tie the hands of the Blood Knights to wagons and let them run back to Lakeshire. But when Rae refused to leave Hysal, and then Brother Wilhelm followed by Brother Sammuel and all the rest of the Knights of the Silver Hand started tying themselves to the wagons in the same way, Bravo Company chose to put them all in the wagons.

Their fallen friends remains were recovered, including Tyndells' from the top of the tower, and wrapped in linen for their journeys home. She had told them on the long climb through the Tower of Ilgalar, that it had once been the workshop of a very dark soul bent on dominating all the peoples of the world and preparing for the return of Deathwing the Destroyer.

Tyndell had fought bravely at the top of the stairs to keep Sara and Rae alive, but she was afraid of fire. She had recognized Darkblaze just as he manifested on the Tower of Ilgalar, But her strength had been sapped in the fire so when Darkblaze heard her whisper, he quickly placed a silence command upon her and killed her with a sliver flicked from his tail as he jumped free of the tower.

A few days after they told of their adventure in a private audience with King Wrynn, they were told of the Kings' decision to alter their story slightly so Lakeshire would not be inundated by anyone looking for Sholamon before they could find him. It was a good reinforcement to Rae and all the others on the lessons of humility.

Loquitta got very good at speaking to the Blood Elves during this time and was appointed Emissary to Silvermoon City. Her first duty was to Hysal and his men and women until they could be safely released.

It was another month before Rae with Hysal and Eno could return to Stonewatch Keep and search for Sholamon. They found it quickly enough by just rowing out to where they could understand each others speech. But they found that they didn't really need to utter a single word, to understand each other. Rae and Hysal spent the entire night cuddled in the boat out on the water just being in each others company before diving to the bottom of Lake Everstill in the morning and retrieving Sholamon.

Eno continued to chaperone them all through that night from the shore where her objections could be heard every now and then.

Then another month went by before the Shire was settled enough for Rae to go back to the Cathedral at Stormwind. The Priests settled her in the guest quarters since she arrived in the middle of the night.

She fully expected to be able to sleep in, but no one told Anna who was standing in her doorway as the sun began to peek through the windows. "Services begin in half an hour, The Archbishop is here to perform the Rights of Renewal. It's the first day of Spring, and EVERYONE is required to attend."

Rae must have grumbled a little as she threw back the covers because Anna hugged her extra hard before laying out her own best robes for Rae to wear as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Then it was 'WHOOSH' down over her head with the dress and a quick brush and off they went to the main hall of the Cathedral.

The singing helped waken her so she could smile more easily … until the Arch-Bishop called her to attend him at the altar. She was certain she did not hear correctly until Lord Greyson Shadowsbane came up next to her and offered her his arm. She could not refuse, so she wrapped her arm through his and laid her other hand on his bicep and allowed herself to be led to the main altar.

When they reached the stairs, Lord Shadowsbane removed his arm and kneeled. She took a deep breath and ascended the stairs until she kneeled upon the pillow set before Archbishop Benedictus and kissed the hem of his golden robe as she had seen others do.

"It has been brought to my attention that Miss Rae has been separated from us for these last few weeks while she had helped the residents of Lakeshire to recover from the ordeal they have so recently been through."

Rae was about to confirm his statement when from behind her somewhere came a baritone voice that filled the Cathedral, "It has also been brought to MY attention that in that ordeal, Miss Rae acted wholly and purposefully against the standing orders of My Kingdom by allying herself with a band of Blood Knights to fight along side them in that war. More specifically The Battle of Lake Everstill from the Stonewatch Keep to our settlement of Lakeshire."

With every word, she began to slouch in front of the Archbishop as she wanted to hide, but the voice of the King was coming closer as he spoke. Lord Greyson Shadowsbane then stood beside her. "How do you plead."

"Guilty, my lords."

"Well said, for with all the witnesses we have, any other answer would have been a disgrace to you and this Hallowed Hall.

Rae was so stunned she just wanted to crawl away and cry but the King was not done yet. "Herald, please read the words we have prepared."

Brother Wilhelm spoke loud and clear, his rich voice must have been coached to fill a Cathedral such as this. "Whereas by the Grace of the Lord of the Light and the King of the Kingdom of Azeroth, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, we are pleased to grant to our Lady Sayberry Rae Gordon, a Paladin of Lakeshire the separate and singular Degree, Title, Honor and Dignity of Knight of the Realm of Azeroth. And furthermore, Support and Approve her appointment by the Cathedral of Stormwind and Lord Uther Lightbringer as a Knight of the Silver Hand together with all rights, privileges and advantages of the same degree. Signed this day, Landen Wrynn, REX - - - Benedictus, Archbishop in the presence of her peers and nobles."

Rae could barely breathe much less speak. In her mind came a phrase the old hag in Lakeshire had spoken over her, "Born on the Solstice, on the Equinox chosen, Her darkness she'll turn into gold …" She looked up at the Archbishop as the applause behind her rose in volume and ended up focusing on the plain tinted window above the altar. As she watched, the window aged and changed until it was a portrait of a woman.

She lowered her gaze and beheld before her an aged Lord Shadowsbane. In his hand he held his scepter of his office which he was giving it to his son. Once that had been done, Lord Grayson turned to her and, setting aside the scepter, took up his fathers sword and held it in front of Rae, "This day I have accepted the oath and symbols of office to lead the Knights of the Silver Hand at Stormwind in their fight against the evils of this land. I ask for your help, Lady Sayberry, in the training of these knights here in Stormwind."

After Rae accepted this office, a small matter for her since she had been the lead trainer since Lord Delvan retired. She turned to shush her two children cheering for her, and as she watched they became four children ranging in ages down to her youngest and only daughter, Maison. Then she looked down as she often did to see her wedding rings and her memory shifted back in time to that day.

They were married in a private ceremony, well away from any city, town or road. Neither his faction nor hers would ever believe their love was more important to them than anything else in this world. Myrdden had gone first, 'The hard way' he said. He then summoned each of the wedding party. The Brides Maids had gathered at the Cathedral in Stormwind while the Groomsmen assembled in Silvermoon City. Each had a bracelet Myrdden gave them that allowed him to summon them once each set of five bracelets were reunited. A Priest from each summoning city was persuaded to attend so that the marriage could be recorded in both factions' records.

"Loving you is everything to me," Hysal said as she watched him slip the wedding ring on her finger.

His love was so obvious in his eyes, and she had been so moved she was unable to speak for a moment, so she kissed him.

"Rae, that comes in just a moment." The priest was trying not to laugh.

'I will love you until the rivers run still, and the four winds we know blow away.' It was not what she had rehearsed, but it was what she felt.

She pushed the ring onto his finger then Hysal bent down to kiss her.

"Hysal, a little patience from you too please," Tyelis merely smiled.

"Sorry, but I'm had to make sure I remembered how."

Her memory slipped forward again at the word 'remember' and the echoes of their wedding day became a golden glow within her memory.

"Loving you is everything to me," he said as he held her hand and breathed his last breaths. Then his eyes unfocused and rolled up and his hand relaxed. She laid it gently upon his chest, where Raes' tears fell. She could not heal him, and there was no one who could. Age was the only thing that could have taken him away from her. He had given up more for their love and their short time together than he had ever told her about.

He had insisted on taking her last name instead of her taking his. So it was that 'Hysal Gordon, Husband and Father.' Was engraved on the tall headstone Rae now stood before. Her own headstone only lacked the date of her death and was placed next to Hysal where she would be interred when she returned to the Light. The cover stone to cover them both together was ordered and paid for even though it would not be set in place until after her death. It had a bouquet of Lilacs with a wreath surrounding it.

There were only a few people left at the gravesite when she spoke her poem for him;

"Suddenly from nowhere, like a cool breeze on a still day,  
"Your memory drifts over me.

"You are never far from my thoughts, but sometimes in quiet still moments,  
"You overwhelm me.

"Your face drifts before my eyes, your laugh rings in my ear,  
"Your warmth surrounds me.

"I can almost feel you.  
"Such a bittersweet feeling, you are near me even still.

"To be comforted by your presence, yet miss you so much it hurts.

"Even as the smile touches my lips, my eyes tear up and my heart aches.  
"I miss you.

"I will miss you every day until we are united again in Heaven.  
"And I will love you for eternity."

She remembers crying a lot that week.

Her daydreaming moves forward again. Time had become a twisted river in her memory.

She was meeting her Great-Granddaughter now and the years seemed to weigh heavily upon her. She wore the perfume she had been given by her husband many years before. He said it would remind her of him, and how they met, every time she wore it. And it did, as it filled her home with the delicate smell of lilacs in the springtime.

The three year old on her lap had been named in honor of her. She was playing with the broach Rae wore on a chain around her neck when it came alive once again, just like it had in her youth. Bathed in the light of the Amulet she was no longer an old woman, but a beautiful Queen full of life and vitality, her white hair became her crown as it framed her face creating a look of radiance like an angelic aura. Rae knew it would be the only time they would ever meet, for she knew she was dying. "We share the same name you know little darling", she was saying in her old yet firm voice, "and someday this locket will save your life".

The light of the locket seemed to collect upon the upturned face of the child who first held the locket to her forehead and giggled as she displayed it for all to see. She smiled at her Great-Grandma before she kissed it. Then she looked into Raes' eyes and dropped the locket so she could grab onto Raes' shirt as she stood up and kissed then hugged her. The Amulet fell to rest between them, at both their hearts, before the light bathing them went out.

Rae told her Granddaughter that day, as she had told her daughter many years before, that the family name of Gordon was to be continued through the daughters of the family, and they were to name the first daughter born to every third generation Sayberry Rae until the Gordon line failed. Lontise accepted her edict, as did Francis, her husband. And vowed they would teach their children to honor it as well.

No one knew just how old Rae was for she had been born into the world full grown. Her death-bed was surrounded by her closest friends. Sharra and Sara had traveled for days hoping to get here in time. Lord Greyson Shadowbreaker, Annaralia Ther and Myrdden, her lifelong mentor, had only to come from Stormwind. With them came Wilhelm and Sammuel. Rae had aged according to her own clock while her friends seemed not to have aged at all since she last fought with them at her side.

Her sons were off exploring somewhere in the Outlands. And her daughter, she had left home some time ago angry, bitter and determined to find her own place in the world without anyone knowing her lineage.

Myrdden poured the last drop of her perfume into the box Rae had set her Amulet into, then he sealed it with a spell that would guarantee only her Great-Granddaughter would be able to open it. He placed the empty vial into her hands where they lay on her stomach. "Teach her … Protect her." Rae looked deep into his face as she made her final request.

"I will Dame Sayberry. Until we meet again, in this life or the next, I will always serve your household." Myrdden bowed low to her.

She smiled, "I never could get you to call me Rae." Peace enveloped her like a warm blanket as Rae closed her eyes and heard her daughter coming through the door once again, just as she had done so many times in her youth.

"Mama, I found lilacs, I picked them just for you." She smiled as she remembered when Maison had cut every branch on the tree Hysal planted the day before. "Don't go, mama. I love you."

In that moment Raes heart swelled with love as a single heartbeat was heard through-out the entire of the nether realms causing those most sensitive to the ebb and flow of the magics to pause a moment and share the joy. Then the sounds and smells around her stopped, and her spirit moved on.


	29. Chapter 29

"Finally," a small tired voice spoke as if from far off, "I have finally succeeded, my lady."

"Thank you Cromie. It is best she doesn't see you."

"I know, I know, story of my life," Chromie sounded slightly vexed but her eyes showed she was in a playful mood. "Have you found why she was held so firmly in the vortex?"

"I believe it was her last gift that gave you the power to release her before her spirit died. Love is a very powerful emotion, more powerful than any conjured magics I have ever known. Now go, she's awake."

The sound of leathery wings grabbing air for the most important first down-stroke of flight further roused Rae. The very feel of the air upon her skin had changed. And she no longer felt tired.

Rae opened her eyes. She was lying on a brier in a beautiful and peaceful forest land that looked exactly like the very clearing where she first met Hysal.

She unfolded her hands from where they were overlapped upon her stomach and sat up to look around for him. She somehow knew he wouldn't be there, yet still she had hoped. For a moment she thought she might cry, but then she realized she was no longer an old woman. She was young again; maybe even a teenager as she was when … when her dream began.

She was wearing the strangest clothes. Some long ago memory surfaced to tell her that her leggings were called blue jeans, and her boots were the very boots she had borrowed from … from Nathan, when she had been told she could go into the dig. "I remember …" she whispered.

"Yes dear heart, here you can remember everything easily." The womans' voice spoke.

She spun off the bier and fell onto her back. This body was stronger than the one she had occupied just a moment before.

When she looked up she saw a Green Dragon. In that instant she knew who it was even though they had never met. She looked so much like the tattoo on Myrddens' forearm that Rae got up off the soft heather she had fallen on and knelt before the Dragon as it looked upon her through its closed eyelids.

"Ysera," Rae whispered.

A mist issued from its nostrils as the Dragon exhaled, and coalesced into the form of a woman.

"My dear, I guard the Emerald Dream and have awaited your arrival for a long time, even as I count time. I have dreaded your coming as much as I have yearned for it in my heart. For your coming could have brought the end of all things."

"Did you bring me here?"

"Here in this moment, yes, but not to your time in the Kingdom of Azeroth. That was done by another." The apparition then curtseyed and held her position as a light descended from above and hovered for a moment before forming into a beautiful Elvin female.

"Thank you Sayberry Rae. Because of you, the King and therefore the Kingdom of Azeroth did not fall. And because of that, the Emerald Dream eventually won its battle against the Emerald Nightmare. All because you answered the call Ysera sent out ages ago. When The Aspects first defeated Deathwing, Ysera was uneasy. When the Queen Asharra of the Highborne first turned to the Fel Energies and her hunger for power created the rift that would become known as the Emerald Nightmare, she became alarmed unto action … and called into the very life force of the Emerald Dream for help."

"I remember you … clothed in … in moonlight?"

The White Lady laughed lightly, "Yes that was I. I am caretaker of this world, and am called Elune."

The woman Ysera, took up the tale, "I knew the day would come when I would need your help as my Champion against the Dark Shadows of the Dream … against the Emerald Nightmare."

She waved her hand in front of her and a globe appeared with moving pictures, people Rae first recognized were followed by many she did not until finally Rae began to understand she was witnessing the passing of time. "When I began to dream of a Champion, I dreamed a dream of grace and strength and presence of mind, and determination. All of which you have shown in your dance, and in your strength and intellect and you have shown your other gifts too. Love was your own gift to this world that we could never have asked for, nor done without.

"Nozdormu, the bronze Aspect, provided the doorway for he alone knew when the time would be right. Alexstraza herself heralded your arrival to the races of Humanity and gave to you a talisman which you would need to fulfill your calling. You actually provided the mentor to teach and watch over your bloodline until you came along. Something we did not anticipate. You are now and forever more shall be, my Emerald Knight." Ysera bowed low to Rae which caused her to blush.

"How can … " She stopped as she slowly sat down when so much of what she had lived through and what she had left behind began to fit together in her imagination. "I do not truly understand." Rae hesitated a moment.

"Yes dear heart, you have questions for me?" The White Lady asked.

"Please Ma'am, Was this all just a dream?" A tear rolled down her cheek. She was afraid now. Afraid that her love had been false, her children imagined.

The White Lady looked upon her with understanding in her eyes, "No."

"Then please, is Hysal … And my children …" With each of the many things Rae voiced that were in her heart a series of reflections in the globe caught her attention and showed her their lives and loves, until finally it only showed a hillside at night. It was raining hard there at the moment.

"My dear," the White Lady looked at her with compassion, "the doors to the past are now closed. You may not go back to the life you just left."

Rae buried her face in her hands and cried as quietly as she could for the loves she now knew were lost to her forever.

"You may, however, continue in your birth time. And when, in the fullness of your time there you die, this Garden will be your home. You have more than earned that."

As the Lady Elune spoke, Rae could almost hear the rain pounding on metal roofs. She looked up from her damp hands to see the buildings now reflected in the center of the globe. She found she was not afraid, but she could no longer keep her eyes off what the globe was showing her.

Ysera spoke up, "You have a life to live and a mission to complete. Teach the people what you have learned." The dreamscape around her began to blur and fade as both women waved their hands slowly between them. Rae watched the globe as everything else lost definition. Then, with their right arms extended out to her, silvery sparkles emerged from their open palms to surround her.

"Now you must fight against a new darkness. Teach my people of the Light." The whisper of the dragons' voice faded into the sound of falling rain. Rae saw herself falling gently towards a building until she passed through the metal roof and recognized her own body. Then she heard The White Lady's final words, "You have served us well, dear heart. I grant your most fervent wish … Remember."

* * *

Raes' eyes flew open as she recognized the sounds of weeping and the smell of fear. Rae sat up and looked about her to find she had been brought to the 'Treasure Room'. She saw several of her co-workers huddled in groups around the room to keep warm.

A woman sat at the foot of her bed cradling her arm. It had been pulled out of joint by the rough handling of the robbers when they dragged her along and finally shoved her into the shed. Now Sienna stared wide eyed at Rae who was covered with a pearly white aura.

The bed she had been lain upon was set on top of a crate. She felt a familiar presence beneath and leapt off the bed to find her body here was not as strong as it had been only a few moments before. If it were not for the hold she had on the edge of the crate, she would have crumpled to the floor when she landed. She was so weak.

Immediately she prayed the prayer of Fortitude and felt new strength enter her as her body was enveloped in an aura of cool blue light. Then her prayer of healing strengthened this aura. In her hand she still held her Amulet which now came to life adding power to her castings and strength to her body.

As the others in the shed reacted to her sudden resurrection, she threw the bedding off the crate and then aimed a swift kick at the long side of the box which splintered. Another kick and the box fell apart.

She reached for and retrieved a weapon from the box. As she freed it from the broken wood and packing materiel a new glow formed around her hand and then extended out along the handle of the weapon spreading until it reached the tip as the Sin'Dorei Warblade awoke from its long sleep. The grime that clung to it broke off and fell to the floor revealing the intricate filigree embedded into the handle and blade. "Sholamon," she whispered.

She set aside Sholamon as she reached into the box once again and pulled the coverings from the long pole in the bottom labeled 'Ornamental Staff'. It too began to warm as it awoke to her familiar touch. Long had it lain asleep waiting ... waiting … endlessly waiting. Now its power awoke as Rae held her Ranseur once again. Its own flame ignited consuming and breaking up the grime that hid its splendor. "Can it be that a mere girl has succeeded where many champions have failed to keep their word of honor?" The deep rich voice spoke in her mind as Rae admired once again his form and the intricate filigree imbedded into its handle and blade.

Rae smiled, "Anar'a Elune, we have work to do." She was not really surprised at Moonlights' deep voice. Even though this was the first time he had spoken directly to her, she had always thought it was intelligent enough to speak if it ever wished to.

"My Lady, I shall be yours and your progenies to command forever more." Now the aura it had always shown whenever Rae wielded her Ranseur turned to a golden glow.

Even as Rae began to consider her options, a guard began to bang on the door. "Stop that racket or I'll come in there and kill someone."

Rae began to laugh and the guard, standing in the rain, became angrier. "Stop it I said!" He began to work the lock. Once he had released the hasp, he swung his rifle from his shoulder as he pulled back on the door.

Rae thrust her Polearm deep into the guards' throat as the door opened. Golden light flashed like lightning from the blade searing the wound it had created and severing the spinal column of the guard. He fell without another sound. Behind her, a woman began screaming hysterically. Rae grabbed the feet of the man and pulled him into the shed. She poked her head out the open doorway, looked around to be sure no one had witnessed what had just happened, and grabbed the guards' head by the hair bringing that inside too.

Rae swung full and hard with her open hand to slap the woman free of the hysteria that had all but taken over her mind. Instantly, the woman stopped screaming. Raes' hand stung as much as the womans' cheek, "GET A GRIP WOMAN! We don't have the luxury of time for this … this madness you wish to indulge in." She did not realize it, but she spoke in Thelaxian, the language of the High Elves.

While she had Siennas' eyes locked by her own, Rae grabbed the injured arm above the wrist and yanked hard. The twist she added at the end of the pull set the joint back into its socket with a loud pop. Then she used the healing words she had learned in another lifetime to heal her.

Siennas' eyes still had a wild look in them, but her voice seemed under control. "You are the one hoped for. The one Born on the Solstace."

From the opposite corner of the room the day workers began to recite, each quickly added their voice until all were speaking the words in unison:

"Born on the Solstice, on the Equinox chosen,  
Her darkness she'll turn into gold.

"Like a star she'll descend, to the valley of death,  
The Justice of Knights to uphold;"

"And there in the balance, a girl will stand tall,  
The mouse will stand up and roar.

In a whisper, Rae spoke the words that finished the prophesy.

"She'll cast aside doubt, and finish the fight,  
while over them all she will soar."

With the reciting of the prophecy, Raes' speach returned to the Common now spoken by every Human on the Planet of Azeroth.

"Yes, I am the Paladin of Lakeshire." Both Moonlight and Sholamon glowed brightly within the room. Their golden glow bathed everyone there as they each reacted to the power of The Light in different ways, gaining strength, hope and courage.

There was no more discussion. Everyone in the room picked up something as a weapon and then knelt to Rae to receive her blessings. To most she gave the Blessing of Might to help them in the battle to come, to some she gave the Blessing of Wisdom to help others … these were not to fight if they did not have to. To the rest she bestowed the Blessing of Kings.

Then she fortified all those who were around her with her Devotion Aura before they crept out of the shack and arranged themselves to attack. Two were immediately sent off around the back side of the shed to escape to the village miles away and get help. Then Sienna, fortified with Raes Blessing of Might, ran up the open road to flush out the thieves.


	30. Chapter 30

The rain was still falling.

A slow drizzle that for hours each night turned into a heavy downpour then it would lighten again to the almost mist that had hung in the air for the last several weeks. The very presence of so much rain caused the clouds to build upon the plateau as if they were too heavy to take flight into the blue vaulted skies above them. Their wispy tendrils clung to every living thing until there was nothing outside the simple wooden walled huts that was dry.

Their backs were against the last wall that would protect them from the firestorm the thieves were raging, Rae turned her head for a moment towards the man who had just joined them as they paused to collect themselves before the battle to come. He had simply walked up to them in a protective bubble he had conjured. When she caught his eye, she stated, "Remember how bad it got in Tempest Keep, old friend?"

Myrdden's entire expression relaxed, "Finally," he whispered. "Swindlegrin wishes to see you once you are done welcoming his troops."

Rae laughed in response, "Who am I to deny him his wish." She hefted her Ranseur in the old signal for readiness.

"Ready, Dame Sayberry."

"Why can't you just once call me Rae?"

With her Amulet glowing and her Paladins' ward of protection in place about her Rae spun around the corner and ran towards the choke point the enemy had set up. Aimed weapons, thrown blades, nothing got through her Divine Shield as the thieves rushed to attack this lone girl.

Suddenly, a web of light saturated the ground as her Consecration spell caused it to bubble and erupt. The thieves still in hiding began to break cover as they danced about, their feet burning from the effects of the spell. Then Rae cast her Blinding Light. Each thief wandered about calling for help as the others descended upon them easily disarming them and wrapping them in nets they had brought from the Treasure Room. Rae fought the ones not close enough to be effected by the radiance of her cast as they became exposed to her direct line of sight attacks.

Myrdden watched their backs for any kind of attack, and a good thing he did. Six, seven, eight times lightning struck from the Heavens into the midst of the thieves that had tried to come at them from behind, until Myrdden relaxed and the thieves slumped to the ground unconscious. "Everyone, take their weapons then bind all those who are not already dead."

"We should just kill them. They would us." Sienna had a vengeful look in her eyes.

But Rae reached out and took her hand, holding it and looking deeply into Sienna's eyes. "No. We are not them, and I will not fight a cowards battle." Sienna saw the compassion there, even for her enemies. She lowered her gaze in shame and nodded acceptance of what this younger woman asked of her. Then a curious thing happened. A warm light glowed from under Raes' hand and spread over Sienna. As it did, Rae knew another Paladin had been anointed in the Light. "Go on now, bind and guard them so no other harm will come to them."

When they were ready to go, Rae found Myrdden looking into a scrying pool. "Those that are left have collected themselves around Brons' hut, he is still their prisoner."

"Cowards, one and all. I think maybe a small, defenseless looking girl should show them what stern stuff the Gordons are made of, don't you?"

"You mean to do what you did to the Minions in Blackrock Depths?"

"Precisely." She smiled.

"They already know me and believe I'm one of them ..."

Raes smile was now a mixture of determination and pleasure. "Wonderful, then lets do it this way instead …"

* * *

Myrdden rushed into Brons' office, closing the door quickly behind him. "You failed to tell me you were planning on fighting a war up here."

"Relax," Nate Swindlegrin was hiding under the table, "my men will have this all under control in just a few more minutes."

"Relax nothing! Do you know who you're fighting out there? Some kind of Champion I tell you, some kind of Champion right out of the story books. I'm out of here." Myrdden began the ritual that produced a portal.

Nate crawled out from under the table, "That may be a good idea. Crush, guard the door while we make a way out."

"Me go too." Crush was not happy, he had seen his master like this before. He did not want to be left behind like so many others had been.

"Yes, you go too, but for now watch the door."

As the portal firmed into existence, Crush turned back towards the now opening doorway and was instantly struck by a Flash of Light that threw him backwards into and through the now operating Portal. Then Myrdden waved his arms and the portal was thrown flat over Bron before it dissolved. Both Bron and the area of the wall he was tied to was now gone.

In the doorway stood Rae, fully covered in the Armor of Elune, bathed in her Righteous Fury spell, and surrounded by the Barrier of Protection created by her Divine Shield spell. Her Purified Renseur, Anar'a Elune, came down to point at the Gnome. Its golden glow enhanced the white aura from the armor creating more light in the room than the several lanterns that were now sputtering in the cross draft of wind racing in from the open door to exit through the hole in the back wall.

Sienna came up right behind Rae as she stormed the door of Brons' office. Rae was so focused she didn't know exactly who was behind her, just that it was a friend. In that very moment, the Sun broke free of the hills it needed to climb to bring light directly onto the dig site, and the rains ... stopped.

* * *

"You should have seen ol' Nates' face as all the color drained from it. Then his eyes just rolled up into his head like a pinball machine and he fell over backwards."

"No!"

The tavern was full of Paladins at one end and the regular fare at the other. Everyone was quiet even in the upper half, listening to Sienna who was telling the story at the Paladins table.

"YES! He fainted dead away, him just sitting on the floor in a growing puddle of yellow water."

The table erupted again into laughter as the new Knights listened to the story.

"Wait, wait … what about Bron, what happened to Bron?" The Barkeep could not help himself. He too had been enchanted by and drawn into the telling of the events of that night.

"Oh, Bron," Sienna answered trying not to spill her mead as she giggled a moment. "Remember I told you he disappeared when the portal slammed into the wall? Well, he exited the portal in Ironforge. There he was, one moment a target tied to the wall, the next moment he was floating on his back in the wading pool in the middle of the Mystic Ward, STILL TIED TO THE WALL!"

The laughter of some was shushed by others trying to hear Sienna. "That poor brute who had been guarding the door was first in the water and I swear he was out so fast he never got wet!" This time the laughter could not be quieted.

"And then … and then the Mystic Ward, dead for centuries, just lights up like a firefly. Even if he wasn't yelling his head off, the whole Ward lighting up like that would have brought every Dwarf and visitor in Ironforge, it certainly emptied the Explorers League from their Halls … and THEY were celebrating a Wedding!

An Acolyte spoke up, "What do you mean 'the Mystic Ward was dead for centuries'?" To those not on the plateau in Northrend, a very different timeline had progressed from the Battle of Lakeshire where King Wrynn had been beheaded until now. Before Rae had journeyed, the magics of the Ancients, the Light and the Sunwell had dried up and left the world. But when she returned they came back. Yet only Rae and those who were at the dig site knew this. For everyone else across the world the Magics had never lapsed and King Wrynn had not died at that Battle.

Before Sienna could answer, Rae entered. Maybe it was her timing, or maybe something else was at work, but as she entered the bells of the Cathedral began to chime as they did for every noon hour. "Did you also know that at that same moment the bells of the Cathedral at Stormwind began to ring for the first time since … in ages? They rang for an hour before the Clergy found the stairway to the belfry. And the entire time the bells were ringing the cobwebs and dust and grime of those ages that lay on that dilapidated building, fell away until frescos that had been covered over, were once again visible. And a doorway leading to a wing of the Cathedral that had been lost when the spire over it burned, was once again open. The Halls of Uther, named for the Paladin who established the Knights of the Silver Hand, had been so lost in fact, that almost no one alive believed they had ever existed and less knew where to even look for them."

Rae had been standing just beyond the doorway for the last few minutes, remembering how much everything had changed in this time for her, as Sienna got to the part she loved telling the most. It was as if her entire life before she found the Amulet and her adventures began, was the dream.

She took her mug from the serving woman and raised it as she came to the center of the room, "To all those who could not be here, and to those who fell in honorable battle ..."

Every Knight stood raising their mugs in turn, "TO UTHER THE LIGHTBRINGER AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE SILVER HAND!", then they drained their mugs. Only one went into the fire from a Knights Apprentice who had choked from drinking too fast.

"Come." Rae said quietly to Sienna as she placed her empty mug on the table near her.

The two of them left the Inn and walked silently to the Tram, and from the other end out into Ironforge. "I saw that tear again," Sienna was always looking out for Rae as if she were her mother.

They had passed through Ironforge and were now walking on a little used path past a lonely anvil whose ringing somehow Rae thought she could still hear. She was here, but her heart was still lost somewhere in time. The moon was full this night and iluminated the fog that had risen from the valley as darkness came to the land causing the valley to appear as bright as if morning were about to spring forth and everything that was hidden would be revealed. They moved around the path until they found a small shrine where Rae stopped and motioned Sienna to take a stance behind her as she faced away from the mountain.

The moonlight shimmered as Rae took a couple steps forward and raised her arms. In her outstretched hands was her Amulet.

Suddenly there were three women standing in the clearing. Rae knelt before the new arrival and offered her Amulet to the White Lady. The Lady raised her hand and the Amulet came to life and rose from the cup of Raes' outstretched hands. A set of armor made from the pearly white light of the moon appeared between them. The White Lady then looked upon Rae, "No, dear heart. It is no longer mine to take back. Keep it as protection against the villains of this time." The armor disappeared as the Amulet went dark.

As she clutched the Amulet to her breast, glad beyond words to be able to keep the talisman, Elune came close and hugged Rae. "I have one more gift for you my dear, which I have been saving for an appropriate occasion." She raised her arm towards the nearby markers as she spoke and rotated her hand like she was wiping away dew from a window.

A Spirit Healer suddenly appears suspended above the shrine. She is slightly more substantial than a denser vapor in the form of a beautiful Valkyrie woman. Her wings are outstretched full above her as she clutches an Orc just as diaphanous as she to her breast. "Dame Sayberry, my name is Koita, and I have borne this burden gladly these many years." While she spoke, she almost landed upon the altar where she gently lays the spirit she has guarded for so long. Her wings pulse with power as she hovers over the body of the Orc for a moment, breathing into its face.

As she takes her accustomed position above the altar, the person lying upon it takes on both color and substance and takes a deep breath as his form changes and he returns to the living world.

The man, now a Blood Elf, is facing away as he raises himself up on one arm. But that does not matter to Rae. Even without seeing his face she recognizes him. As her sudden tears half blind her, she pushes her way past Elune in a rush to get to him.

When he hears the crunch of the snow under Raes' boots, he rolls over and falls off the altar landing on his feet just in time to catch Rae who throws herself into his arms and begins kissing him. Kiota, smiling, catches them both and gently lowers them to the ground. "Such love should reside in all creatures, as also binds you two. For it has saved a world." Her job done, the Spirit Healer disappears.

The White Lady walks over and stands next to Sienna who is still kneeling and they both silently watch the happy reunion. "So, beautiful."

"Everyone gets paid with one wish." The tear at the corner of Lady Elunes' eye never dropped, but the beat of her heart could be heard through-out the entire of the nether realms causing a feeling of joy in that moment in every heart on Azeroth.

Elune reaches under Sienna's chin and tilted her face up to look deeply into her eyes, "Let me tell you about your Ancient Mother, a servant I loved dearly. Her name was Sharra Sorrowsmile. You may have heard something of her cousin Sarafeena from Rae, who met them both. At that time she was known as the Healer of Redridge, but before that …"

Rae and Hysal are now alone on the bluff as the night air reaches its coolest just before dawn. The light breeze picks up the loose snow and moves it about in the silence of the darkest part of the night, but that does not matter to them. Their half lives are over, they are together once again. Between them, in their touch and their kisses, in their joy to be in each others arms, in their tears and their love, they look deeply into each others souls once again. The world between them right now is warm enough and big enough for them to live … happily ever after.


End file.
